Tom Buhrow: "Trust in traditional media has increased tremendously"

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According to ARD chairman Tom Buhrow, the importance of classic media has increased significantly due to the corona crisis.

"Trust in traditional media has increased tremendously," said Buhrow on Friday at the Radio Advertising Summit Digital.

"The entire media industry used the Corona crisis to prove: We are in the service of the community and have something valuable to offer," emphasized the director of Westdeutscher Rundfunk (WDR).

The reason for the interest of the users is the growing need for information.

Radio in particular had become more important for many people during the pandemic.

“The radio is the most emotional medium,” said Buhrow.

"If you have few real contacts with the outside world through short-time work or home office, the voices that accompany you through the day become more important."

From the point of view of the ARD chairman, audio formats will continue to be trendy in the future.

The increasing relocation of radio to the Internet offers new opportunities.

This shows the increased importance of podcasts.

"This is a wonderful signal of hope that quality products have a future online," emphasized Buhrow.

"There will be nationwide radio stars in the future"

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He assumes that in ten years Internet technology will have established itself in radio reception, he said.

That will change the medium.

On the one hand, regionality will be revitalized, on the other hand, the nationwide availability of regional broadcasters will also increase competition.

Talk radio - a popular format in the USA - will also spread in Germany.

“There will be nationwide radio stars in the future,” Buhrow was convinced.

Buhrow emphasized that radio has a special function with a friendly and binding address to listeners, especially in times of hate speech in social media.

"Thanks to the moderators, radio has a great opportunity to take the edge of the sometimes hateful controversies."

In the TV sector, on the other hand, the public broadcasters face enormous challenges, according to Buhrow. The changed spectator behavior has led to a fragmentation. In the future, individual offers would have to be provided for users. "That means additional investments and resources at a time when we all have less money available."