Next time you tune in to The Bear, The Cougar, The Falcon, the Squirrel, The Yeti, or whatever your local radio station is called, don’t be alarmed if the DJ sounds a little bit off.
What happened: Media company Futuri has launched RadioGPT, billed as the first radio platform powered entirely by AI. The tech looks to make on-air talent obsolete with its ability to scour the web for trending topics in local markets and generate scripts for robot hosts.
- RadioGPT can also automate other tasks, including making social media posts, creating short-form videos, and converting radio content into podcast content.
Actual stations will start using RadioGPT in mid-April. One broadcaster that’s signed up? Rogers. The telecom giant’s media subsidiary owns 55 radio stations across Canada.
Bottom line: Unless you’ve never heard of Spotify, it probably won’t shock you to hear that Canada’s radio industry is steadily declining. Between 2011 and 2021, operating incomes for private FM radio stations dropped ~77%, despite an increase in the number of stations.
- Radio stations across Canada owned by Bell and Rogers have already laid off staff in recent years, with Bell even pulling the plug on three of its sports stations.
With the potential to reduce production costs and payrolls, an AI-powered radio platform could prove irresistible for struggling stations and bad news for your local morning zoo crew.—QH