[Kim Wexler’s Ponytail]

Of course it can. It's the same across TV and it's happening in all comparable countries. We are inherently lazy and crave convenience. Why would we plan our day around the times a show is on TV? Why would we put up with three songs we don't like to hear one we do? 

On top of that, technology has made the previous USPs of local news on radio obsolete. 

Ask any parent in their thirties if they'd ever considered listening to the radio to find out if the kids' school is closed due to snow. Of course they haven't. Schools send e-mails and texts with one mouse click. Ask anyone random person in the car park of a motorway service station if they pay attention to traffic bulletins. Of course they don't in the majority because their Google Maps, Apple Maps or Tom Tom have live traffic conditions that no radio traffic service can compete with. Not only that, they also automatically show the best option to re-route.

Severe weather? The Met Office app, AccuWeather or even the iPhone weather app are your friend. The instant a warning is issued it pops up on your phone. Do you want it more fancy? Alexa reads out the warning for you within in minutes of it being issued.

Do you want know about your commute before you leave? Ask Alexa or set her up to automatically give you a traffic update while you're getting ready. No Alexa? No problem... your smartphone learns when you usually get into your car and will have a pop up notification if traffic is worse than normal.

Blimey. Yes, local radio was only about school closure announcements and travel and weather bullitens. That was it. There was absolutely no value in the schedules full of regional voices who could relate to the communities they were broadcasting to better than any London based national dj/radio station could. But hey, you're right. What's the true value of something really worth? Who am I to stand in the way of advertisers making everything better. It's the people, and only the people, they're thinking of after all.