Want to get a good radio debate going? Just bring up the true value of “local” topic and watch the fun. But when it comes to local WEATHER, there is no debate. That’s because most people place great value on weather information that covers where they live and work. Recently a broadcaster heard that message loud and clear when they fired their entire team of 100 meteorologists across their group of television changes. Theey started a whole different type of storm. Radio can most definitely learn a lesson or two from this corporate debacle.

Programming a radio station has never been a simple task, made more challenging by today’s environment where staff and budgets are at a premium. Right now, Barrett Media is in the process of handing out awards to the best program directors in America, a worthy endeavor. Problem is, IMHO they have missed the best one. He’s the subject of today’s post.

The biggest non-political AI news of the week was yet another big announcement from OpenAI. “Operator” is an AI agent that can read things off the web and preform multi-step tasks autonomously — think buying groceries, purchasing tickets (if it can get around the CAPTCHA), or booking travel. Operator is available now to users in OpenAI’s super-premium $200/month…

One of our CES tour attendees referred to the event like drinking out of a tech firehose, an apt description of the experience – especially for first-timers. As we continue to learn, it is an essential skill for CEOs in the media business to acquire a passable Tech IQ. The alternative could be dire, for both executives and thier companies. Earlier this month, a long-time corporate chieftain lost his coveted job in a high-profile company because the release of their new app turneut to be a debacle. I’ll tell you that story and why a “continuing education” in technology for CEOs isn’t just a good idea. It’s prerequisite.

Broadcast radio is often criticized for its quantity of commercials, especially during the medium’s modern era where music stations almost universally only run two (long) stopsets per hour. But it’s the QUALITY of radio ads – especially locally – that have made radio more vulnerable to other ad platforms. At CES 2025, we saw AI models focused on producing quality commercials efficiently and effectively. Maybe the bots can help radio solve what has become a chronic problem and a glaring deficit.