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From YouTube to FM: Why a Uruguayan newspaper turned to radio

Summary

La diaria bought a radio station as challenges mounted. The move has allowed the company to diversify revenue and reduce its dependence on digital platforms.

A Uruguayan news outlet that spent two decades building a successful subscription model and investing heavily in digital media decided this year to invest in a much older technology: radio.

La diaria, an independent newspaper and digital news outlet based in Montevideo, acquired three FM frequencies this year to launch la diaria Radio, a project that combines traditional broadcasting and streaming, with programming focused primarily on news and current affairs.

For la diaria, the acquisition is a response to a growing problem for news organizations: the loss of control over how their content is distributed on digital platforms and search engines.

“Media outlets are disappearing from the digital environment,” Damián Osta, co-founder and manager of la diaria, told LatAm Journalism Review (LJR). “People are no longer being offered a link that allows them to read an article. Social media died as a source of traffic, and now we are entering the era of ‘Google Zero,’ in which traffic from search is dying.”

From YouTube to FM

The move does not mean abandoning digital media. La diaria is using radio to strengthen its overall content ecosystem, diversify revenue and expand access to its journalism while continuing to build its brand and its relationship with the community that has supported it for 20 years.

While the opportunity to acquire the frequencies came unexpectedly(opens in new tab), the decision to expand into audio was not improvised. La diaria produced its first podcast six years ago. It later created a unit that produces one hour a day(opens in new tab) of articles read aloud by human narrators — not AI, Osta emphasized — for its subscribers.

In 2025, la diaria took that experiment into streaming(opens in new tab). The outlet produced a two-hour morning show for YouTube from its cafe in Montevideo’s Ciudad Vieja(opens in new tab). The program was well received and prompted the outlet to consider expanding its programming schedule.

“By then, we had already called [the project] ‘la diaria Radio,’ even though many people would say, ‘But it’s not a radio station, it’s a streaming program,’” Osta said. “And we would say, ‘Well, this is radio.’”

The project was initially expected to grow gradually on YouTube. But in late December 2025, the owners of M24, a progressive, left-leaning radio station historically linked to the Movement of Popular Participation (MPP), offered to sell la diaria the 97.9 FM frequency in Montevideo and the 102.5 FM and 90.9 FM frequencies in the departments of Maldonado and Colonia.

La diaria’s workers assembly — the outlet operates as a cooperative(opens in new tab), under a model in which employees are co-owners of the media organization — and its subscriber community approved the deal. On April 6, the station began broadcasting la diaria Radio, which now offers 14 hours of programming Monday through Friday over the air and via streaming.

The radio operation also changed la diaria’s revenue structure.

Historically, the outlet has relied primarily on subscriptions, with about 90% of its revenue coming from its community. With the radio station, advertising — which previously accounted for just over 8% of the outlet’s financing — became an important source of revenue.

Radio’s built-in audience naturally attracts local brands looking to advertise, Osta said. As a result, la diaria Radio has been able to forgo YouTube monetization and, with it, the intrusive digital ads, he added.

“Radio is subsidizing our streaming,” Osta said. “People still listen to the radio when they’re driving, when they’re cooking ... There are times when people listen to radio.”

According to its most recent financial report(opens in new tab), la diaria generated nearly $6 million in revenue last year. With the addition of radio, Osta estimates that figure will approach $7 million.

Radio has also become a way for la diaria to widen its reach and cultivate its brand without depending on digital platforms. Although the outlet continues to produce content for Instagram and TikTok, its goal is no longer to drive traffic to its website but to maintain a presence in audiences’ lives, regardless of the medium.

“Radio is a way to connect with your community through other means,” Osta said. “The media outlets that are going to survive are those that manage to build or maintain active communities and a brand that is very present in people’s minds when they want to get informed.”

A community with a voice

When the opportunity to acquire the frequencies arose, la diaria consulted its community of nearly 24,000 subscribers, who backed the initiative. More than 2,000 people contributed about $65,000 to set up the studio, while a subsequent survey helped shape the programming based on their media consumption habits.

But listening to the audience does not mean turning its preferences into editorial mandates.

For example, some subscribers questioned some aspects of the programming, such as the incorporation of television personalities. La diaria editors personally called those subscribers and explained that the decision was intended to appeal to new audiences.

For example, some subscribers questioned some aspects of the programming, such as the incorporation of television personalities.

“When you put so much emphasis on your community, you also have to be able to make your community uncomfortable,” Osta said. “Otherwise, what you end up doing is communicating only with people who think the same way.”

The radio station also allows la diaria to reach people who cannot afford a subscription.

“Radio solves that because it’s already democratic,” he said. “Anyone has a radio, it costs nothing, and there are 14 hours of good journalism.”

This text was translated with the assistance of AI and reviewed by Jorge Valencia

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