Financing radio for the future — the role of AI

FRANKFURT, Germany —The French government has warned the country’s radio broadcasters of drastic changes in the country’s media landscape over the next six years, driven by digital players. This is likely in most markets worldwide. However, radio stations can fight back with a new weapon in their arsenal: Artificial intelligence.

Whether state-controlled, supported or privately organized, radio depends on financing. Despite the uncertainties surrounding the hype cycles of emerging technologies, AI is clearly here to stay. Given its already-known automation and content generation capabilities, it will be a crucial determinant for radio’s future, including revenue streams.

Beyond advertising — new revenue streams

In addition to terrestrial live broadcasts, radio stations can reach audiences through streaming and podcasts. Generating revenue from such multiple offerings is a major headache, and traditional audio advertising methods are not a cure-all.

However, AI can help.

Numerous companies and software programs specialize in using AI to guide customers’ sales strategies. Here are broadly six ways to use AI that can save time and money and generate new revenue:

1. Identify customers. How can you match the perfect fit between your programming and unexpected new advertisers? AI can provide answers from the broadcaster’s potential audience. Let the AI crawl through other media and check who does what, where and how. Gain insights into prospects’ communication strategies.
2. Target potential advertisers with the correct arguments and a deeper understanding of their industry. This can be done by designing a tailored presentation for the client, focusing on the most persuasive arguments.
3. Create an automated analysis of where and with whom the desired customer advertises, how high their investments are, and how their advertising messages look or sound.
4. Create, say, 10 different versions of a commercial, each tailored to a specific target audience based on age, sociodemographic or featuring a different approach such as one could be formal, another funny, etc. AI can also create personalized advertising campaigns for individual listeners. This can be done by analyzing listener data to identify their interests and demographics and using voice clones.
5. If the client rejects the offer, find new arguments and create a customized offering, considering pricing, ad version and new arguments.
6. Automate tasks: AI can be used to automate a variety of tasks, such as scheduling, billing and social media management. This can free up staff to focus on more creative and strategic work.

It’s critical that radio station management encourage their staff to remain current on the latest AI technologies and consider their applications and potential as possible solutions. Most importantly, management should weigh the additional costs of such technologies, the savings they could offer and the potential new revenues.

One thing to remember is that large language models like ChatGPT and its counterparts, which already perform some of the listed tasks for free, learn from the commissioned queries about strategies and workflow optimizations that involve your knowledge. The insights gained from this are then accessible to all.

The author has worked in sales and marketing for the German private radio industry since the 1980s. He hosts the video blog #RadioSalesWeekly, which follows developments in the media industry.

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