We're back -- and not AI generated!
Hello again, I know it’s been awhile. I’m a teacher, so consider I was on summer break and am now back for the new semester. Shameless plug, if you’re interested in how I spent part of my summer, please take a look at my other blog, ayoda.tumblr.com or ayodanoto.blogspot.com – but let’s get back to the airwaves.
Jed "the Fish" Gould, Wink Martindale
Much happened this past summer, which we hope to say something about in the ensuing days and weeks to come. These include the passing of Jed “the Fish” Gould and Wink Martindale, the departing words of KROQ’s Nicole Alvarez, more changes with Saul Levine and his stations, among other stories.
Nicole Alvarez, Saul Levine
Yet what stood out to me this summer is the brief offering on 106.3 FM around Downtown LA (a bit more coverage on 93.9 FM HD2), and apparently still available online. Specifically, I’m referring to “The Fizz FM.” It was an advertising vehicle for the relaunch of the soft drink Slice, a former Pepsi product now being offered as a “healthy soda with prebiotics.” It’s the only product advertised on this low-powered FM station, but that’s not what’s noteworthy.
Everything on this station is AI-generated – the slogan is “Yesterday’s pop hits that didn’t exist until now.” It’s a somewhat interesting albeit a bit generic sounding covering different pop genres, but to reiterate, everything is created by artificial intelligence. That’s quite interesting. But also quite interesting – and perhaps more disconcerting – is all of the “personalities” are also created by AI. Simply stated, all of the talent is generated by a computer somewhere, a live (or tracked) human being is non-existent on this frequency.
I had an interesting experience with my younger son a few years ago. During the summer of 2021, when we were slowly returning back to normal after the peak of the pandemic, he attended a band camp to prepare his then new role as drum major for his high school. It required a commute of over an hour each way. Everyone there was tested and vaccinated, they created their own bubble at a high school in Moreno Valley.
Prior to this, my son talked about the friendships he’d formed online while we were in stay-at-home mode. He argued these friendships, largely a group of people simultaneously online, were as authentic and intimate as any other friendships. I said you can have some good friends in the digital world, but connecting one-on-one was quite different. He disagreed until…
It was the third day of band camp. When I picked him up and searched for an open place to eat (most businesses were still closing early), he said “Dad, I hate to tell you you’re right about something.” Of course, being the dad of a then-teenage son, I was used to that attitude. Of course, my curiosity was peaked.
He admitted he really enjoyed interacting with real, live people at band camp. He realized he missed talking to one person at a time was very different from his on-line friendships. I’m a good Dad. I didn’t say “I told you so.” Well, maybe I said that to myself.
Let’s get back to radio. Fizz FM was amusing. Nonetheless, my older son could easily tell it was AI, more noteworthy is he said the whole endeavor was “creepy.”
But I had another thought. Human relationships, by definition, are “analog” entities. Heck, the human experience is analog – though we may listen to music via streaming, on our phones, and (for a few of us) via CDs, all digital media, the source of the music is still an analog creation.
FizzFM – and perhaps tracking – are digital mediums. It can’t connect to the listener in the same way an human, analog source offers to the audience.The technicals involved with presentations offered by AI, both audio and video, will only get better. But I’m going to argue AI – as a digital medium – will always lack the human element. A technically polished, processed, and sometimes auto-tuned recording may be seemingly perfect, but if it doesn’t connect with the listener, perfection doesn’t matter. I argue perfection and connection are two different things.
Maybe it’s a stretch, but where local radio (and TV) connects best is at the human, analog level. AI generated programming, by its nature as a digital medium, will always be different and arguably be missing something.
Keith Cunningham is a Cumulus VP of Programming and self-described “Master of Mayhem” at legendary rocker KLOS. In a recent article written for Barrett Media, Cunningham implored rock stations to stop “worshipping the playlist.” Quoting Cunningham:
In an era when radio stars like Heidi & Frank and podcasters like Pardon My Take, Rogan and countless others are topping the charts without playing a single song, it’s clear:
RockTernative needs to stop clinging to “music first” and start creating content that stands on its own.
He’s not anti-music – he said you’ve 24 hours of program to fill – but Cunningham points to KLOS’s significant success, especially in the morning, to connecting great talk with great music. That’s something that’s originates from an analog source.
As far as young adults not caring about talk, one thing that Charlie Kirk offered (this isn’t a political comment) is he had a significant following among a younger demographic. The claim young adults don’t care about talk is challenged by the popularity of his and other podcasts. And these podcasts aren’t being generated by AI.
Something I’ve said repeatedly – I know the “good ol’ days” aren’t coming back. 24 / 7 live programming is unlikely to make a return. Still, before radio’s obituary is published, there may be some options to consider. And it has little to do with something generated by a computer.
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