TECHNOLOGY: ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE AT THE SERVICE OF RADIO

Artificial intelligence is the topic of the moment: it will change the world of work and also radio. Two American companies already propose AI-based programmes not only to automate functions, but to create content and free up energy for programming.

The American company Futuri offers a suite of software that interacts to create live programming featuring AI voices and delivering locally relevant news content.
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In Italy, the m2o network has called it the radio killer, but American Futuri says that with RadioGPT^TM it wants to simplify program creation and create local content suitable for any radio format. The U.S.-based company was the first to gain publicity by capitalizing on the chatbot’s notoriety launched in November 2022 (as of March 14, 2023 to version 4). Futuri combines three AI-based software: GPT-3 writes program texts based on stories and trending content that the Topic Pulse software extracts from the web (it scans Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and 250,000 other sources), and finally has them read by a digital voice. One can choose from a catalog of entertainers, create shows with two or three hosts, or instruct the software to “copy” radio speakers.

Today, two out of three programs are automated

Futuri’s intention is to make the power of artificial intelligence available to radio publishers to better manage the 70% of programming hours that are already delegated to automation systems.
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But the platform does more than just create the schedule (which can be customized for any area, leveraging news fished from the Web). It can automate other processes for the station to interact with listeners: such as feeding a blog on the website, creating social media posts, making short videos, and then converting program content into podcasts. Daniel Anstandig, CEO of Futuri, says his company created RadioGPT to save radio because in many stations 70% of broadcasting is already automated. While with the help of artificial intelligence, live and local content can be increased. A demo can be heard at this address. Impressive!

Program Director is more management-oriented

Program Director automates scheduling and advertising, uses artificial voices, and enables the management of differentiated content and advertising, even of stations operating in different time zones
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On a different front is American Super Hi-Fi, which offers Program Director to automate scheduling and reinvent the traditional workflow. Based on artificial intelligence, among many things it curates playlists, does intelligent music rotations, creates shows with artificial voices, and visually shows how the time slot is scheduled. It manages music catalogs, tags songs, and can run an unlimited number of stations simultaneously (useful, for example, for broadcasters who offer dozens of thematic web radios on their site to build listener loyalty). Designed for professionals, it has features that can manage stations operating in different time zones, syndication of stations, and the flow of advertisements.

Written by Fabrizio Carnevalini

April 2, 2022April 2, 2022

UKRAINE: THE MEDIA CONFLICT/PART 4 (1-2 March 2022)

The image posted on Twitter by The Kyiv Independent shows the column of smoke rising from the TV transmission tower hit by the Russian army. According to Ukrainian authorities, there were five casualties and five injured. Most stations resumed broadcasting after a few hours. — The image posted on Twitter by The Kyiv Independent shows the column of smoke rising from the TV transmission tower hit by the Russian army. According to Ukrainian authorities,
there were five casualties and five injured. Most stations resumed broadcasting after a few hours.
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1 March: Moscow tries to switch off the capital’s broadcasters

At the beginning of the invasion of Ukraine, Russia targeted social networks, which in response raised their defences to prevent tracking of users in the occupied territories and blocked Kremlin-controlled media. But since March, the target has been extended to radio and television infrastructures, even though the Russian army is keeping Ukrainian mobile phone networks intact for use due to technical problems with encrypted military communication systems). Europe’s response is not long in coming.

The moment of impact of one of the two Russian missiles that hit the transmission tower
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Ukraine is a largely flat country, and in the capital, even if antennas were placed on a skyscraper (the tallest, the 178-metre Klovsky Descent 7A, was inaugurated in 2015), the signal would be absorbed by the ground after a few tens of kilometres, due to the earth’s curvature. A respectable transmission tower is therefore used to extend coverage. Built between 1968 and 1973, during the time of the Soviet Union, it has a diameter at the base of 90 metres and is 380 metres high. It is the tallest in the world (among those made entirely of metal) and the tallest building in Ukraine. (Wikipedia info here).

On GoogleMaps, there are several pictures and with StreetView you can ‘walk’ around the tower, changing perspective.

2 March: BBC responds by dusting off the short waves

The BBC World Service tweet shows the coverage area of the broadcasts on 15735 and 5875 kHz, which can be received in Kyiv and parts of Russia
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In order to inform the Ukrainian population, the BBC is reactivating two short-wave frequencies that used to broadcast the news of the World Service for four hours a day (broadcasts to Europe had ended in 2008). These are the British transmitters in Woofferton. Built during World War II, and privatised at the end of the Cold War, it is still used by the BBC to broadcast the World Service and leased to other broadcasters (Deutsche Welle, Voice of America, Voice of Vietnam).

March 26, 2022March 25, 2022

UKRAINE: THE MEDIA CONFLICT/PART 3 (26-28 FEBRUARY 2022)

ADN-Kronos agency reports on the blocking of media that depend on the Russian government
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February 26: Social networks react

After Facebook, Meta extends profile protection to Instagram; YouTube blocks some Kremlin-run media (preventing ads and revenue generation) and puts videos at the bottom of the recommendation list. Twitter restricts access to major telecom providers.

February 27: After Facebook, it’s Twitter’s turn. The EU takes the field and shuts down state media

Without making official announcements, activity on Twitter is slowed down, as Netblocks, which does global-scale monitoring of how the Internet works, notes. Users can get around the obstacles by masking their identity by accessing from a VPN network (which by preventing localization ensures privacy). European Union blocks Russia Today and Sputnik: the President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen, during a press conference in Brussels announces that Russian state-controlled media and their subsidiaries will no longer be allowed to broadcast their lies. YouTube also blocks Russia Today and prevents it from monetizing content globally.

February 28: Foiled by social hacking of Ukrainian public figures

Facebook removes fake accounts activated by Russia and Kyiv to target public figures in Ukraine. Twitter suspends more than a dozen accounts and blocks the sharing of several links.

October 19, 2021October 19, 2021

SPAIN: CATHOLIC NETWORK CONDEMNED, IT HAD FIRED AN EMPLOYEE FOR HIS IDEOLOGY

The article in CincoDías, a column in the economics section of the Spanish daily El País, discusses the subject in-depth and also offers a link to read the ruling
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The Superior Court of Justice of Madrid (Tribunal Superior de Justicia – TSJ) annulled the dismissal of a sound technician of Cope (Cadena de Ondas Populares Españolas, owned by the Spanish Episcopal Conference), and ordered the company to reinstate him and pay his back wages. The employee had written a comment on Twitter about a Spanish satirical film where Jesus is portrayed as a homosexual. The court upheld the appeal because an employee is not obliged to share a company’s ideology or decalogue of good practices and cannot be expelled for this reason. Moreover, he was not a journalist, broadcasting news or opinions, but a sound recording assistant; his Twitter profile was personal and did not indicate that he was an employee of the Catholic radio station. Therefore, the followers of the post could not have damaged the company’s image, as they were unaware of who he worked for.