Only radio can help prevent listeners from being constantly glued to screens, a RadioAsia2014 expert panel agreed in Colombo, Sri Lanka on Friday.

While embracing mobile and multiple screen consumption, one panelist described how radio is a useful escape from visual content.

James Ross, who hosts his own syndicated radio show ‘The Greatest a Hits of Music’ said mobile apps allow him to continue his radio listening on public transport to and from work and between outside meetings. The last thing he wanted to do is watch another screen, he said.

Joan Warner, CEO of Commercial Radio Australia pointed out that time spent listening to radio Australia had barely moved (down by just 10 minutes a day) over the past five years despite all the new technology/social media battling for fans’ attention.

Radio was holding up well, she added.

Another panel member hope that new and smaller stations would use Social Media for effectively to reach out to new audiences and fans of under represented music/cultural niches.

Hoping that radio would continue to be a cultural leader, Steve Taylor, Deputy Dean, School of the Arts at the University of Northampton in the UK said he thought radio had become too homogenised with large players dominating the market place with similar formats.

Sri Lankan panelist Chevaan Daniel from Capital Maharaja said that people had yet to fully realize the impact that new technology was having on society.

In December 2004, radio stations saved many lives through their timely announcements about the Asian Tsunami which struck the Sri Lankan coast as well as many other Asian countries.

10 years on, if the tragedy were repeated, radio has the ability to mobilise other technologies to help save many more lives, Daniel added.

Accepting that people are now interacting with radio in many different ways, Warner said most people still listen to traditional AM/FM whereas mobile app still accounts for about 10 percent of all listening.