With the development of online media, there is no future for the radio. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?
Sample Response
Many people opine that the growthprogress of online media will render traditional radio obsolete. I agree with this opinion and believe that online media will replace broadcast radio because online radio continues to gain popularity and generate revenuegain popularity and revenue.
The primary reason why a question mark hangs over the future of terrestrial radio after the emergence of online media is that the latter proves to be highly convenient and easy to use in comparison to terrestrial radio. People can listen to any song they want at any given time on digital platforms such as YouTube and Spotify. But with broadcast radioradios, this is not possible at all. They have to wait until the song is aired. This convenience and ease that comes with online media has made a significant portion of the youngeryoung generation forget about radio. A recent study, for instance, carried out in India confirmed that millennials choose online media as their preferred music platformmusic platform of choice because of its conveniencefor its convenient properties, very often at the cost of traditional radio.
The second main reason why radio faces a grim future is that online advertising causes a decline in broadcast radio advertising revenue. Online advertising enables businesses to interact with target audiences promptly. This means that it can effectively respond to customer queries and thus gain their trust. This, in turn, influences customers’ buying decisions, a useful feature rarely available with traditional radio advertisements. Consequently, businesses opt for digital advertising, thereby decreasing traditional radio advertising revenueincome. iHeartMedia, the world’s biggest radio company, is a case in point, which faces mounting debts due to a huge loss of advertising revenue.
In conclusion, I forecast a dire future for broadcast radio because online media leads to the decline inof its popularity and revenue.
Why this response received Band 8.0
The essay presents a decisive position and develops two coherent reasons—listener convenience and declining advertising revenue—with relevant examples and strong progression. Its main limitation is that it treats radio largely as a music and advertising medium, leaving functions such as local news, emergencies and live broadcasting unexamined. Prioritise acknowledging the strongest counterpoint and explaining why online media would still make radio obsolete.
IELTS Writing Criteria Scores
Task Response
The position is clear and fully sustained, and both main reasons are well explained and supported with relevant examples.
Address radio’s strongest continuing functions briefly, then show why they are insufficient to secure its future.
Coherence and Cohesion
Paragraphing is purposeful, each body paragraph develops one central reason, and cohesive links create a clear progression throughout.
Make the transition from declining audiences to declining revenue more explicit so the two causal strands reinforce each other.
Lexical Resource
The essay uses a broad and generally precise range, including effective language about obsolescence, convenience, audiences, and advertising revenue, with occasional awkward phrasing.
Prefer natural expressions such as “convenience” rather than “convenient properties” and use “radio broadcasts” rather than “broadcast radios.”
Grammatical Range and Accuracy
A wide range of complex sentences is handled with strong control, while a few reference and relative-clause constructions are imperfect.
Clarify pronoun reference in the advertising paragraph and revise the iHeartMedia sentence so the company, example, and debt relationship are grammatically direct.
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IELTS Writing Task 2
With the development of online media, there is no future for the radio. To what extent do you agree or disagree with this opinion?
Your response
Write the task yourself, then compare your choices with the annotated response.