While the kinks are still being ironed out, artificial intelligence can fabricate on-air voices, write commercial scripts, automate labor-intensive tasks, and perform a laundry list of other everyday chores at radio stations across the globe. In short, AI has the potential to fundamentally change the way radio is created, distributed, and monetized.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere is no question that the tectonic plates under our industry are shifting and we are going to have a very different experience working in this industry over the next five years, compared to the last five,\u201d says Daniel Anstandig, founder and CEO of Futuri, one of the audio tech providers developing AI products for radio. \u201dThis is a critical moment in the future of radio.\u201d<\/p>\n
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Increased Productivity<\/strong><\/p>\n Zack Zalon, CEO and co-founder of Super Hi-Fi, sees AI being used in radio for productivity and enhancement, rather than for replacing air talent. \u201cThe idea that you can replace your morning show hosts with AI is just not true,\u201d he says. \u201cIt’s not ready for primetime, it’s not believable [to the listeners].\u201d Super Hi-Fi, whose audio clients include iHeartMedia, Sonos and Westwood One, is \u201cworking to build products that will help to transform the radio industry in a pretty significant way from the inside out,\u201d Zalon says.<\/p>\n While AI is seen by some as a radio job killer, Anstandig says that\u2019s not the case. \u201cWe’re going to grow with AI because there’s a lot that we can do to extend ourselves and ultimately create better, higher quality content with it,\u201d he asserts. \u201cWe believe that more unique local programming for winning broadcasters is ultimately going to be the most important thing that we do as an industry.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Overhauling Radio\u2019s Operating System<\/strong><\/p>\n While Zalon believes machines cannot do a better job than humans at providing companionship and entertainment, or curating music, he says AI will play a pivotal role in how the entire radio ecosystem works. \u201cThe operating system for how radio is actually built and managed is an antique,\u201d he contends. \u201cThe tools are very powerful, very flexible, very reliable, and very old. Most were built for Windows 95 and have barely been updated since.\u201d Many radio stations stitch together a patchwork of disparate systems to perform critical functions like ad trafficking, music scheduling, and digital ad insertion. \u201cThe whole thing is still an extremely manual version of automation,\u201d Zalon says.<\/p>\n Anstandig sees AI as a way to end the practice of what he calls \u201cchair swiveling\u201d in the industry. \u201cYou have a person who sits in one system, receives information as a human and then they act like the API and swivel over to another system and enter that same information,\u201d he says. \u201cWe don’t need to do that now with AI.\u201d<\/p>\n While Futuri\u2019s foray into AI may be best known for RadioGPT \u2013 billed as the world\u2019s first AI-driven localized radio content solution and recently rebranded as AudioAI \u2013 the company has been integrating the technology into its offerings for years. Over time, Anstandig sees it being woven into the very fabric of the industry. \u201cWe’ll use it to optimize our processes, to automate certain things that we do on a day-to-day basis, and to create content,\u201d he said last month at NAB Show New York. \u201cWe\u2019ll use it as our first line producer, to communicate with our audiences, to create personalized content.\u201d<\/p>\n Super Hi-Fi says its AI-powered Program Director operating system can produce \u201cworld-class radio stations\u201d and countdown shows in minutes, using AI-assisted playlisting, rotations, daypart scheduling, show creation, automated AI production and online playout. This and other tools it\u2019s developing can reduce station overhead by 75-80%, Zalon claims, and do in milliseconds what it now takes hours to accomplish.<\/p>\n \u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n Creating Better Content Experiences<\/strong><\/p>\n Both Super Hi-Fi and Futuri see their technology as a way for broadcasters to improve their profit margins and plow the savings into better content experiences for listeners. \u201cAs we think about the voracious appetite for content that our audiences have, AI is capable of extending our unique ability to create content of higher quality and more volume,\u201d says Anstandig.<\/p>\n Zalon says Super Hi-Fi aims to \u201cupdate and modernize the entire ecosystem of radio from a tech stack standpoint, so that radio companies can get back to doing what they do really well, which is building great, compelling, engaging, lean-back listening experiences.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n Using AI to improve productivity and efficiency is only the beginning. The fast evolving technology also has the potential to transform radio for the digital age, allowing radio to deliver linear content that can be personalized by listeners online. \u201cThere’s a giant chasm between the digital-only experiences that Spotify offers and the really rewarding entertainment experiences that radio people know how to do,\u201d Zalon says. \u201cAt some point, our hope is that in addition to saving radio companies an enormous amount of operating expense, we can help provide a natural, easy bridge to the online space.\u201d<\/p>\n <\/p>\n