But now, the medium is on the cusp of what could be a Lazarus-like revival.
Falling revenues and a new era of competition is prompting radio stations to become more creative and flexible in what they can offer advertisers.
Still, it's going to be an arduous climb to achieve the kind of recognition in Asia that radio enjoys in the Western world, where American shock jocks like Howard Stern and Don Imus have built a loyal following, injecting interactivity on even the web to give the word added cachet.
"Radio in Asia is in a bit of a sorry state. It's the forgotten medium, in many respects, says Hong Kong-based Victoria Henderson of Universal McCann.
ZenithMedia figures show that only 4.7 per cent of adspend in Asia-Pacific last year went to radio.
That compares to a staggering 14.1 per cent in North America, 9.3 per cent in Central Europe and the Middle East, and 5.4 per cent in northern and western Europe.
The origins of these vast differences lie in the way that radio has developed around the world.
In the West, the "wireless was an essential household item long before television was available; in much of Asia, meanwhile, their introduction was almost simultaneous. Television, with its extra dimension, immediately became Asia's favourite.
Despite this, radio has consistently been a strong performer in the Philippines, where television is not available in many rural areas; Thailand, where motorists stuck in Bangkok traffic are a captive audience; and in Australia, where the range of radio stations compares favourably with those in the US or Britain.
But as advertising budgets have been tightened in recent years, radio has taken more than its share of the pain. Nielsen Media Research figures show that in Hong Kong last year, ad expenditure on radio fell 17 per cent even though overall spend rose seven per cent. In Australia, radio spend fell 22 per cent last year, although it has been boosted early this year by the launch of three new Capital radio stations.
The hurdles to radio's success as an advertising medium in the region are many. There are no syndicated statistics showing the value of radio to clients, and most advertisers don't realise radio's reach.
"If you look at markets like Australia, the UK and the US, which are very, very developed from a radio point of view, there are big opportunities to really connect with certain target groups, Henderson says.
"But there doesn't seem to be an understanding of that here. The medium really has a huge opportunity here, but it's pretty under-utilised."
Antony Young, chief executive officer of ZenithMedia Asia, says the fact that radio has for years been neglected generates further hurdles to the medium's success.
"We have a problem because the creatives in Asia don't tend to focus on radio.
"A lot of the multinational clients tend to be very heavy on TV ... and advertising practitioners become much more skilled at writing effective television copy than effective radio copy, he says.
Part of radio's allure in other markets is its relatively low cost compared with television - an advantage that is diminished in Asia because TV advertising is generally much cheaper here than in the West. And those looking for a low-cost option are increasingly looking to outdoor advertising, and to new ambient media choices, such as the televisions that were recently installed in Hong Kong buses and mini-buses.
But much of the reason why radio has had only muted success in the region is its own failure to sell itself as an efficient and successful advertising medium to both potential clients and agencies.
"I'm forever receiving calls from TV stations, newspapers, magazines and internet companies, says Chris Walton, chief executive officer of MindShare China. "But it must be a good two to three years since I've had a radio station knocking on my door, which tells a story in itself."
But there are signs that radio's fortunes are changing. Economic pressure on both advertisers and the stations themselves means the media owners are becoming more flexible in what they can offer clients, who are gradually realising that radio can bring them big returns for comparatively little outlay.
"I couldn't say that we had, say, 10 clients who have never used radio before but have just started using it. But generally, the feeling I get is that clients are becoming more willing to use radio, especially nowadays when all of us have to really think hard in terms of what better channels to use in order to get more bang for the buck, so there's a definite potential for growth in radio to be very strong," says Mike Wong, managing director of Ogilvy & Mather Advertising Hong Kong.
Part of this new impetus to accommodate potential advertisers is rooted in the start of a new era of competition. The Virgin group expects to launch a range of radio stations in three Asian markets by the end of this summer, and has its sights set on every major market in the region, including Japan and Australia.
Satellite television group, Star, meanwhile, is already shaking up the Indian radio market, having launched the country's first commercial FM station, called Radio City, last year.
It now broadcasts in Lucknow, Bangalore and Mumbai, and is next due to launch in Delhi.
Sumantra Dutta, chief executive officer of Radio City, says that while there are no plans yet to extend beyond India, he predicts strong growth for the medium in Asia.
"We see huge potential in the radio business, primarily because it's the age of consumerism, he says.
"There never really was a better time for a mobile medium. Not only is radio free because everyone has access to it - and hence the reach is huge - but also it's proved internationally to be a great tool for local business and local advertising."
Radio City has 260 brands on its list of advertisers; about 65 per cent of these are multinationals, such as Coca-Cola, Pepsi and Hindustan Lever, while the remainder are the local jewellers, hardware stores and hairdressers, who have needed some convincing to part with their money.
"We're having to do a missionary job for radio, educating advertisers about how radio can work for them, but the beauty of radio is the fact that radio advertising works, Dutta says. "When the local jeweller puts their hand into their pocket for the second time, there's no better feeling, because you know that it's working for them."
Virgin Radio (Asia), meanwhile, was formed a year ago and plans to launch in two, if not three, markets by the end of summer.
Its first targets will be Thailand, China and Taiwan with the company expecting to roll out in many other markets soon after.
"Asian radio is a nascent medium, says Jason Keiles, Virgin's senior vice-president, business development. "It's a very underdeveloped market in the region, and we're resting on our experience of radio in Europe in terms of being able to bring some of the expertise that's been gained elsewhere."
Keiles says it is to Virgin's advantage that many advertisers in Asia-Pacific have in the past overlooked radio in favour of TV.
"We think we can change that by offering a more lucrative product - something that listeners will want to tune in to and advertisers will be able to use to target their demographic."
Observers says the entry of highly professional players in the market will spur existing stations to improve the quality of their programming for the benefit of their listeners and pay more attention to the needs of advertisers.
"Quality players like Virgin and Star coming in is a good thing for the medium because, despite there being more competition, anything that can help raise the profile of the medium is going to help, says Young of ZenithMedia.
"I think it's a positive development because when new players come into the market - such as what happened to the regional satellite television market throughout the 1990s - it helped develop that market."
Dutta says that the time listeners spent tuned in to radio tripled in the three months after Radio City's launch, and was now at more than three hours, compared to 40 minutes in the beginning.
"Being the country's first private FM station, we set a benchmark for superior radio programming, Dutta says. "There have been many 'me toos' and in general people have raised the bar in terms of their packaging or the sound of their station."
Zenith predicts that radio adspend will grow strongly in Asia, compared withNorth America and Europe, rising from 4.7 per cent of total spend last year to an estimated 4.8 per cent in 2002.
That translates to a growth rate of almost three per cent this year, compared with 2001.
The comparable figures for Europe are 5.4 and 5.6 per cent of total adspend, with North America declining to 14.1 per cent last year, followed by a rebound to 14.2 per cent this year.
"If they can take just one per cent of advertising share from newspapers and TV, they're increasing their revenue by 25 per cent and that's a big opportunity, says Young.
Potential and opportunity are the words on everybody's lips, but can radio live up to expectations? The early signs are promising.
While Asian radio tends not to have the charts, chat shows, personalities and on-air controversies of the West, there are pockets of programming strength. An 'agony aunt' programme in Shenzhen, southern China, has a huge following, and Hong Kong's Teacup in a Storm talkback programme is often the talk of the town.
"From a music content point of view I think it's pretty poor in Asia, but from the way that advertisers can use it, it's extremely flexible and it's a very cheap medium. We're spending a lot more on radio in an interactive way, says Joanna Mobley of advertising giant Coca-Cola.
In Hong Kong, Mobley says Coca-Cola teamed up with local station CR2 to promote an event for juice brand Qoo. CR2 urged its listeners to attend the event, a live broadcast was aired on the day, and afterwards the station carried a wrap on what had happened.
"We've done a lot using radio to drive people to events, she says. "(Stations) are definitely becoming more flexible. It gives us a fantastic way to immediately reach people, and that's how we use radio, to move huge numbers of people around the place."
Coke's water brand, Bonaqua, sponsors a mock radio weather report - the sound of birds singing and waves crashing - to promote its image of a healthy outdoors life.
"I know they've come up with a number of proposals in the last year with Coke to sponsor different programmes, band competitions and things like that, Mobley says.
From Beijing, MindShare's Walton says: "Radio owners are the most flexible and accommodating of all the media owners. In the past few years, their willingness to listen to what you wanted to do and clients wanted to say has been quite encouraging, at least in the main urban centres."
On Star's Radio City, advertisers can do anything from a 10-second spot to the creation of an entire programme.
"The radio stations are open to doing something different and it's getting better all the time, says Ogilvy's Wong.
Observers say that as car ownership rises and traffic builds up in Asia, particularly in India and China, increasing numbers of people will have little option but to listen to the radio for a significant portion of their day.
And while new media threaten to steal some of radio's already meagre share of adspend, they can also be used in tandem with radio. Many advertisers are already using radio with SMS (mobile phone text and picture messaging).
In Singapore, for instance, record company EMI has created a 'virtual band' called Gorillaz, whose music is played on radio and radio advertising encourages fans to begin SMS conversations with their favourite band member.
But key to radio's success in the region appears to rest on its own confidence and willingness to promote itself. Chris Walton says that where there's life there's hope, and radio may yet become a star in Asia.
"Three or four years ago, cinema and outdoor were a bit of a shambles, but they've pulled themselves together, he says.
"Regardless of how poor the state of radio is at the moment, it could get its act together pretty quickly."
