Why Radio Is Making A Comeback & The AI Influence

[Buddy Shula]

It’s as simple as this…people young and old are getting sick of technology. The constant changes, the constant expense, the headache that comes along with TOO MANY OPTIONS.

Many people are yearning for simplicity. The constant bombardment of something new is exhausting

Recently, we gave away McCartney tickets on air, along with qualifying prizes.

I barely step out of my office, but when I do, it’s always to greet listeners who come to the station to pick up prizes.

I spoke to many younger people, 35 and under, who not only love oldies, but they love listening to BIG WECK on AM. I was shocked in one instance and asked the kid, “why”?

He said he loves the way the music sounds. He JUST discovered WECK was on AM and likes it much better, because he said he never heard AM radio before, so to him, it was a type of sound he never heard.

The world, especially this country, is overloaded with the circus that occurs daily. People want a break from that. They are sick of the bad news, the stress, the choices…

I looked at Facebook the other day and NOTHING was a real post. It was all fake AI. How will any person, or any advertiser want to be on a platform that is all “made up” and non-trusted?

Radio is making an “Technology Overload” comeback.

 

[R.D.P.]

Amen and Amen Sir!

Dan <><

 

[Miss Tuned]

I looked at Facebook the other day and NOTHING was a real post. It was all fake AI. How will any person, or any advertiser want to be on a platform that is all “made up” and non-trusted?

Meanwhile, many in radio are looking at the fake, robotic content that AI spews out and their reaction is "hey! that'd sound great on our station!".

Radio's selling point is that it's human-to-human. Radio companies choosing AI as the way forward - for presentation, news, traffic - are joining the cacophony of fake AI noise that we humans all have to filter out now and losing that USP.

 

[radiofan2023]

Facebook and AI are a scourge and I've stopped listening to one station around here that obviously uses AI jingles, KKJO.

 

[Buddy Shula]

Meanwhile, many in radio are looking at the fake, robotic content that AI spews out and their reaction is "hey! that'd sound great on our station!".

Radio's selling point is that it's human-to-human. Radio companies choosing AI as the way forward - for presentation, news, traffic - are joining the cacophony of fake AI noise that we humans all have to filter out now and losing that USP.

AI is not a way forward. It’s a tool, that can help in certain ways, but it simply cannot replace the human brain, since humans are programming it.

Jeff Bezos, just the other day, said one position will never be replaced, and that position was creativity. You can read the story anywhere.

I do find AI useful for basic facts. It will absolutely replace Google , Bing, etc as the preferred search engine.

I encourage my team to look at AI, get some basic facts, take the facts, and make it your own.

Radio is positioned well out of all the other legacy medias. It’s free, it’s trusted, it’s mobile, it SHOULD BE local, and a format is a lifestyle…you can localize that lifestyle.

I go back to all these younger people I am talking to that love BIG WECK. I’m the first to admit, I am surprised. However, when I speak to them, I understand why.

As a human being, social media has not done one thing to enhance my life, in fact, when I was on it, it did the total opposite

 

[SirRoxalot]

AI isn't even reliable for basic facts. It scraped data from multiple sources, and whichever it finds the most is the one it feeds back to you. The most common answer is simply not the best answer in most cases. It's the lowest common denominator and leads to the dumbing down of people who rely on it. In some ways it's like Wikipedia - perhaps OK for a general overview, but the real nuts and bolts of a subject are best found in the works it cites for its overview. Anyone who relies on AI for real answers is unlikely to get them unless they're extremely adept at asking a series of the right questions, and even then AI sometimes simply makes things up.

Is it possible to use it as a tool? Yes, but only if you have sufficient knowledge of a subject to be able to evaluate its answers appropriately.

 

[radiofan2023]

AI isn't even reliable for basic facts. It scraped data from multiple sources, and whichever it finds the most is the one it feeds back to you. The most common answer is simply not the best answer in most cases. It's the lowest common denominator and leads to the dumbing down of people who rely on it.

Well said. Just as an example I googled “George Foreman’ the day after he died and the AI result said “George Foreman is still alive”!

 

[davideduardo]

I do find AI useful for basic facts. It will absolutely replace Google , Bing, etc as the preferred search engine.

"AI" is not a single entity. Google uses its AI for searches now, AI will not replace Google, it will, in theory, make it better.

I encourage my team to look at AI, get some basic facts, take the facts, and make it your own.

Unless you are going to build a server farm, you will need to contract a service or provide who uses AI to enable its work.

Radio is positioned well out of all the other legacy medias.

I know this is nit picking but... there is no such thing as "medias". There is one "medium" and many considered together are "media".

It’s free, it’s trusted, it’s mobile, it SHOULD BE local, and a format is a lifestyle…you can localize that lifestyle.

But most people today are not looking for "local media". In a connected world, the entire planet is "local".

I go back to all these younger people I am talking to that love BIG WECK. I’m the first to admit, I am surprised. However, when I speak to them, I understand why.

In the research world, those listeners are known as "outliers".

As a human being, social media has not done one thing to enhance my life, in fact, when I was on it, it did the total opposite

It depends on how you use it... and not letting it use you.

In fact, RadioDiscussions is "Social Media".... and you are using it.

 

[SignalsradioLLC]

Well said. Just as an example I googled “George Foreman’ the day after he died and the AI result said “George Foreman is still alive”!

In a manner, that is true. He named his sons George Foreman.

 

[Buddy Shula]

"AI" is not a single entity. Google uses its AI for searches now, AI will not replace Google, it will, in theory, make it better.

Unless you are going to build a server farm, you will need to contract a service or provide who uses AI to enable its work.

I know this is nit picking but... there is no such thing as "medias". There is one "medium" and many considered together are "media".

But most people today are not looking for "local media". In a connected world, the entire planet is "local".

In the research world, those listeners are known as "outliers".

It depends on how you use it... and not letting it use you.

In fact, RadioDiscussions is "Social Media".... and you are using it.

You have your terms and ways of thinking, I have mine. Tomatoe/Tamato. For every rebuttal you have, I am a retort. I just don’t know how to use the quote thing on here

 

[crainbebo]

Spotify and YouTube are still uber popular with teens and young adults. I should take a poll of people my age at church. Who listens to worship and Christian music via YouTube/Spotify vs. The Message (SiriusXM), K-LOVE, Air1, Positive Life Radio? Especially since we younger adults *ARE* leading the charge in church attendance. (see: New Barna Data: Young Adults Lead a Resurgence in Church Attendance)

I am impressed that BIG WECK is getting listenership with so many Gen Z'ers.

AI is forced and pushed on us in far too many ways, even in young children. If a 4th grader is researching penguins at school, the Google AI pops up FIRST on his Chromebook. And by the way, Google doesn't allow you to disable the AI searches. So we get teachers who grade incredibly-complex writing assignments from middle schoolers who are at a way lower level academically. They just copied it from AI. Getting a 0% for copying from AI is fair. (From your lips to admin's ears, however. An increasingly larger number of schools don't allow grades under 50% or even higher on the basis of 'racism' and 'discrimination' and other...stuff).
I do find one advantage for AI, and that is with children that have disabilities. Kids who are non-verbal could flourish with AI reading their thoughts and allowing them to participate in more of a general school day than ever before.

Also, AI will require giant server farms that will spew huge amounts of CO2 into the air, and of course, raze habitat for birds and wild animals in some cases. So wonderful of Microsoft.

Hey, executives! Get some real living and breathing human beings into recording studios to sing REAL radio jingles!

 

[davideduardo]

I am impressed that BIG WECK is getting listenership with so many Gen Z'ers.

We don't know that as a fact. If a few younger people make comments to the station owner or staff, that is not a survey with any factual base.

AI is forced and pushed on us in far too many ways, even in young children. If a 4th grader is researching penguins at school, the Google AI pops up FIRST on his Chromebook. And by the way, Google doesn't allow you to disable the AI searches. So we get teachers who grade incredibly-complex writing assignments from middle schoolers who are at a way lower level academically. They just copied it from AI. Getting a 0% for copying from AI is fair. (From your lips to admin's ears, however. An increasingly larger number of schools don't allow grades under 50% or even higher on the basis of 'racism' and 'discrimination' and other...stuff).

That is indeed a misuse of not just AI but the internet itself. How many term papers and essays are just based on Wikipedia or other internet sources with no real research done.

I do find one advantage for AI, and that is with children that have disabilities. Kids who are non-verbal could flourish with AI reading their thoughts and allowing them to participate in more of a general school day than ever before.

You are just looking at the "consumer surface" of AI. You also need to see how it accelerates and does so without human error the processing of all kinds of business transactions and "paperwork".

AI can do logistical calculations that let Amazon have its inventory distributed so that more items can be delivered the same day or to project how many staff members are needed at a supermarket's stores based on everything from the day of the week to the weather!

In radio, it could help schedule songs so that each listener gets the least repetition and the most variety of what is in the library based on analysis of ratings data.

And in health care, it can assist in developing formulas for medications and analyze better the side effects.... and give doctors a way to look at a patient, all the meds they take, and the effects of new medications or procedures.

Also, AI will require giant server farms that will spew huge amounts of CO2 into the air, and of course, raze habitat for birds and wild animals in some cases. So wonderful of Microsoft.

And when the internal combustion engine was created, it did the same thing.

Hey, executives! Get some real living and breathing human beings into recording studios to sing REAL radio jingles!

I can think of jingle packages and jingle producers going back to the 60's where the product sounded like it was done by ESL students... there is good and bad in every endeavor.

 

[KilowattKat]

Also, AI will require giant server farms that will spew huge amounts of CO2 into the air, and of course, raze habitat for birds and wild animals in some cases. So wonderful of Microsoft.

The environmental impact is going to be horrific. These massive data centers that are popping up all over the place require a tremendous amount of energy for refrigeration and water for extreme cooling to prevent all those servers from overheating. For example, each AI generated and sent email requires a gallon of water for cooling purposes. And of course where are many being built? The desert! (AZ, NV) Where there is already a water shortage. Not to mention the growing NIMBY pushback.

 

[CTListener]

And when the internal combustion engine was created, it did the same thing.

And this is supposed to make irrelevant, or at least make acceptable, the environmental impact of the data centers? The problem with your logic is that the internal combustion engine is still around. You could argue that internal combustion reduced the environmental impact of the horses that disappeared from city streets. But the data centers aren't going to make the cars and trucks disappear.

 

[JJSPC]

Just curious how these younger folks are listening to AM. Who in that group still have (or have ever had) a radio other than in their vehicle? There can't very many people that are actually going out buying new portables or boomboxes. And even a fair amount of boomboxes are FM only now.

 

[CTListener]

Just curious how these younger folks are listening to AM. Who in that group still have (or have ever had) a radio other than in their vehicle? There can't very many people that are actually going out buying new portables or boomboxes. And even a fair amount of boomboxes are FM only now.

The "younger folks" have smart TVs and other devices (Alexa, Siri) in their homes that can be used to listen to thousands of radio stations, AM, FM and even shortwave and longwave. Whether they actually are using them for that purpose -- and if they are, whether they are using them to listen to ephemeral ditties from the grandparents' days, is a matter of conjecture. And I don't think anyone knows the answer: not me, nor you, nor Mr. Shula. But I'd lean toward the cold, hard truth coming out contradictory to Buddy's assertions.

 

[SomeRadioGuy]

I wouldnt say radio is making a comeback, exactly...what I have seen is this........ people getting tired of the same old "40" songs on country and pop stations.....they want a little more variety but not a ton.. theres been a resurgence in more traditional country music on the radio.

What ive also seen is stations who have a heritage theyve maintained doing ok and getting a little more notice because theyre local, involved, etc... as people discover the newspaper, spotify.. cant do what radio does.

Radio is a relationship business with its listeners and advertisers.. and people are realizing they miss it.

Most young people arent discovering radio.. young people who listen to it 20yo + grew up around it. I trained a teen here whos never used a CD and i dont recall if she even knows what one is.

It's not always t he music you play, its the sense of community you create and involve yourself in.

I wish i could explain it better.. I've not seen a comeback per se, but I've seen stations whove maintained their heritage getting extra ears lately.

 

[K.M. Richards]

This should be in the Radio Section, Not the Buffalo thread

I agree. What is being discussed has industry-wide focus.

 

[davideduardo]

Moderator note: This thread started in the Buffalo forum, but I moved it to "National" as the influence of AI on both stations and the listeners is truly a national subject.

 

[tall_guy1]

Facebook and AI are a scourge and I've stopped listening to one station around here that obviously uses AI jingles, KKJO.

Those jingles are AI? I like them.