Media personalities often live conflicted lives – loved and adored, but also insecure and guarded. Today’s #TBT is about a “brush with fame” encounter I had back in 2018 with Jeopardy’s iconic host, Alex Trebek. At the time, Trebek was undergoing a life-shattering experience – a stage 4 pancreatic cancer diagnosis and an unprecedented outpouring of emotion from his fans. There are lessons here for media personalities, including those behind the mic on the radio. It’s about appreciating what you have, something we can all afford to experience.

AI and humanity. If that sounds oxymoronic to you, you’re not alone. Many are concerned Artificial Intelligence will leave creativity, empathy, and warmth on the cutting room floor. But, in fact, most companies displaying their AI wares at CES this year went out of their way to explain the role humanity plays in this fast-moving technology. I’ve got it all packaged for you, along with an introduction to one of the most powerful execs at Spotify charged with “picking the hits.”

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. They 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…