John Laws, Richard Glover and now Ray Hadley; there's no questioning a golden wall of Sydney radio talkback has fallen with all three resigning in recent weeks.

Veteran broadcaster Laws, also known as the 'golden tonsils', hung up the headphones for the last time on Friday after 71 years on air, telling his 2SM listeners it was "time for a rest".

On Thursday, another titan of Sydney airwaves, Ray Hadley, told his loyal 2GB audience he was stepping down from his highly successful radio program after a "hell of a ride".

"2GB has been my home for almost 24 years, I've worked with some outstanding colleagues," the 70-year-old said, noting that he hadn't yet retired from the industry in full.

Hadley's announcement came as a shock to many, particularly because he recently signed a contract extension, meaning he wasn't due to stand down until at least 2026.

He told reporters there wasn't a potent reason for leaving, just that it was "time".

The ABC's Richard Glover also said his decision to step down from Sydney's Drive program after 26 years in October was a "tough decision".

The departure of these major broadcasting icons has left many wondering what the future of Sydney radio now holds.

Ratings likely to decline but may bounce back

The influence of all three radio presenters is undeniable.

Hadley was seen as a brute force across the political divide, who wasn't afraid of voicing his opinions in often blunt terms much to the delight of his listeners.

His morning show won the ratings battle for the morning slot 160 consecutive times, dating back 20 years. He held a sizeable 16.4 per cent of the Sydney morning radio market.

While it's been some time since Laws topped the ratings in Sydney, his audience was equally as dedicated.

Glover's audience was also loyal, despite ABC Radio Sydney experiencing a prolonged ratings slump.

Ashley Jones, a senior lecturer in radio and television at the University of Southern Queensland, said the departures would inevitably lead to a dip in ratings, but it would be unlikely to last long.

"Talkback radio is such a rich way to connect people and unpack things that are happening down to a local level," he said.

"It's a kind of companionship and a way to challenge or confirm our beliefs."

It's not yet clear who will take the talkback baton for all three programs, but Mr Jones said choosing suitable replacements would be the key to maintaining audiences.

"There's a number of candidates that potentially could come in and start to pick up the mantle, but it will be different," he said.

Is the future of radio at risk?

Last month, the ABC's Fran Kelly made the "bold prediction" that reports of radio broadcasting's decline were "greatly exaggerated".

The journalist and former presenter of RN Breakfast said that radio was in fact the medium of the future.

"I don't want to sound like a dinosaur here," she told the annual Andrew Olle lecture.

"Radio is the parent that has spawned the other audio options, and we co-exist in that audio landscape as a family."

Mr Jones said radio was a "robust medium" and that predictions it was declining were largely premature.

"I don't see radio in anyway being in threat, 95 per cent of Australians listen to radio every week, with those sorts of figures it's not going anywhere too soon," he said.

"It travels through the life cycle, teenagers might depart from radio but quite often people come back in their late 20s, a lot of people rediscover radio."

He said there was no doubt listener behaviour had changed with the rise of podcasting, but that the onus was on networks to attract and maintain younger audiences.

"Radio has had more come backs than Lazarus," Mr Jones said.

"But networks can't make hard-nosed business decisions, it needs some risk capital, and it needs to be responsive to the audiences' needs."