Please stop calling them kids.
Gen Z’s oldest members turn 29 this year. Some are running marketing departments, others launching startups, some making corporate purchasing decisions. Meanwhile, most radio executives are still debating “how to reach youth.”
Gen Z already decided how they consume media years ago, and it doesn’t include linear listening.
In 2026, Generation Z spans ages 14 to 29. The oldest were born in 1997 and are approaching 30. That’s not youth. That’s full adulthood. They’re living adult life now, and it looks nothing like previous generations.
The On-Demand Generation
Most radio executives miss this when they talk about Gen Z: this isn’t about different media preferences. It’s about different expectations for how the world works.
Think about a typical evening for a 27-year-old in Munich, Marseille, Milan, or Manchester.
Dinner comes through Uber Eats or Deliveroo: no phone calls, no checking opening hours, just tap the screen and food arrives. Getting across town means opening Bolt or Uber, and a car shows up in three minutes. You know who’s driving, you can track the route in real time, and payment happens automatically. Want to watch something? Netflix or Disney+ let you choose exactly what you want, whether it was released yesterday or fifteen years ago. Groceries get delivered, and if you’re in a hurry, Gorillas or Flink gets them there in 15 minutes. Even dating happens when you feel like it: swipe left or right on your own schedule.
Everything is on-demand, immediate, and personalized. Everything is controlled by them. Why would audio be any different?
Audio Is No Different
Gen Z didn’t wake up one day, discover Spotify, and think “this is nice.” On-demand audio came naturally because everything else in their lives already worked that way.
Gen Z consumes massive amounts of audio, just not from linear radio. Walk into any office, coffee shop, or university campus and count how many people under 30 have earbuds in. AirPods have become a permanent accessory. Gen Z lives with audio playing constantly during commutes, at the gym, while working, while cooking, while shopping.
According to Attest’s 2025 research, 82% of Gen Z will pay for on-demand streaming services. They’re not cutting back on audio: they’re consuming more than previous generations did at this age through music streaming, podcasts, YouTube videos, and audiobooks. They simply rejected the linear model, but not audio itself.
When your entire adult life has been shaped by getting exactly what you want when you want it (food, transport, entertainment, shopping, communication), the idea of linear listening sounds absurd. Turn on the radio at 5:30 PM to catch a specific show? The technology for on-demand listening has existed for over a decade. Sit through songs you don’t like to hear one you do? Algorithms already know what you want. Accept unskippable advertising breaks? No thanks.
This isn’t Gen Z being difficult. It’s Gen Z applying the same logic to audio they apply everywhere else.
Beyond Media
The on-demand expectation has reshaped how Gen Z approaches work, relationships, and purchasing. Some are entering management positions now – not huge numbers, but they’re there. And that 82% willingness to pay for on-demand services extends beyond media.
Gen Z is driving the subscription economy forward. They don’t buy DVDs or CDs, they subscribe to services that give them access when they want it. Car ownership rates among Gen Z are lower than previous generations because they use Uber, Bolt, Miles, and car-sharing instead.
Their shopping patterns are different too; over half have bought directly through social media platforms, not by seeing an ad and then going to a store, but by buying in the moment.
This generation has rewired itself around immediate access and personal control. Linear radio isn’t just competing with Spotify or podcasts anymore. It’s competing with a worldview where waiting for anything feels like broken design.
Photo by MART PRODUCTION @Pexels
Setting the Standard
Here’s the real danger for radio: Gen Z isn’t just abandoning linear media themselves, they’re normalizing on-demand consumption for everyone else.
Media patterns flow upward through generations. When Gen Z treats linear viewing as outdated, Millennials start questioning why they’re still watching live TV. When Gen Z expects podcasts and Spotify, Gen X starts exploring those platforms. The cascade effect is already happening: On-demand, personalized, mobile-first consumption is becoming the default across all ages.
Radio stations waiting for Gen Z to “age into” linear listening aren’t just missing Gen Z. They’re losing their entire audience base because Gen Z’s habits are becoming everyone’s habits.
The Generational Cliff
Newspapers said young readers would come back as they aged. They never did.
Alain Weill, CEO of French magazine L’Express, said it plainly in November 2024: “60% of print subscriptions that we lose are due to the death of our subscribers. That’s the reality of our industry.” Radio faces the same cliff.
Gen Z grew up in a world where every service, product, and experience is on-demand. These aren’t preferences that will change with age: these are embedded expectations that will only intensify as this generation matures and gains more purchasing power. The oldest Gen Zers are approaching 30, and they’re not going to wake up one day and decide linear listening makes sense. They’ve built their entire lives around the opposite.
Real Digital Transformation
Almost all radio executives I met admit they’re working on digital transformation. They’ve launched webradios and apps, made their shows available as replays on Spotify, and started posting clips to TikTok. But that’s not transformation.
Real transformation means accepting that the on-demand model isn’t a trend: it’s how Gen Z and increasingly everyone expects the world to work. It means rethinking content creation, distribution, and audience acquisition from scratch. Not “how do we get our linear content onto platforms,” but rather “how do we create content that respects people’s need for control and immediacy.”
Every other industry has figured this out. Restaurants adapted to delivery apps, transportation companies to ride-sharing, retail to e-commerce, and entertainment to streaming. Radio keeps acting like it’s special, like the linear model has some inherent value that will eventually win people back.
It doesn’t. They won’t come back.
The Question
Gen Z aren’t kids anymore. They’re adults with purchasing power and decision-making authority who have spent their entire lives in an on-demand world. Every service in their lives works on-demand: food delivery, transportation, entertainment, and shopping. Why would they ever accept linear audio?
The generational cliff isn’t coming. We’re standing on it right now.
Want to discuss how your station can shift to on-demand without losing what makes you valuable? Get in touch!
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