Headlines

(John Shomby) Radio gives us plenty of opportunities to compare: ratings, market size, salaries, time slots, awards, social followers. Those measures can tell us something about our work. The trouble starts when we let them tell us what we’re worth.

AI-assisted radio is heading to Contemporary Christian, and the pitch is that localized does not have to mean expensive. Manna offers stations an alternative to generic voice tracking and national syndication, with an experienced programmer shaping the music and a Charleston personality anchoring as host.

The Hot AC sound is gone from 96.5 in Philadelphia, replaced by Country music's current stars. The new US 96.5 arrives with a commercial-free launch window, a full weekday lineup on the way, and a direct rival in Beasley's 92.5 XTU waiting for the same audience.

A top ten market is among four that have lost the industry's seal of approval for Nielsen's PPM ratings. The Media Rating Council revoked accreditation in a September decision, adding another strain to a currency already under review after a pause on the accreditation of Nielsen's diary service.

The frequency stays the same, but everything on it just got louder. Fredericksburg's Classic Rock station has a new identity rooted in Civil War history and a playlist that now reaches well beyond the classics, thanks to a relaunch that ended a weekend of stunting.

Mentoring and Inspiring Women in Radio is about to show what AI looks like inside a real morning show, a music brand, and a digital-first shift with a free webinar later this month, seeking to give content creators a guide to the tools and habits they can actually use.

Holiday shoppers will let AI hunt for the deal, but they want to be the ones who buy it. That boundary, plus a stubborn deal-overload problem, shapes the pitch radio sellers can make to retail clients heading into Black Friday and Cyber Monday, according to YouGov data.

The most valuable podcast listeners are showing radio where ad dollars are headed. New research on podcasting’s heaviest spenders points to trusted hosts, overlooked genres, and frequency across touchpoints, lessons stations selling personalities and local audiences can put to work right away.

(Loyd Ford) Local radio sales can feel like driving through fog. You know what is billing today, but next month looks less certain. When current accounts demand attention, prospecting becomes something you promise to do later. Then later arrives with a revenue hole.

(Steve Allan) Mark Ritson recently wrote a column for The Drum about a survey he received from Anthropic. The goal of the survey was to get human input into improving their Cowork product. Kind of ironic, no? But this led into a discussion about synthetic market research.