weekly August 14, 2023, Issue 870
MSBC: If The Boot (Camp) Fits
Last week’s (8/10-11) 35th annual Morning Show Boot Camp (MSBC) offered attendees almost a dozen sessions focused on a wide range of topics of interest to personalities, from contract negotiating to social media. But the camp’s biggest buzz wasn’t a personality at all. At least not a human one. Art(ifice) & Commerce: A.I. first came up in a one-on-one interview with iHeartMedia Chairman/CEO Bob Pittman. “Anybody who uses A.I. on-air is a fool,” Pittman told The Woody Show host Jeff “Woody” Fife. “Once you lie to the audience, you lose their trust.” Pittman later added he could envision the use of A.I. for things like sales proposals, music scheduling, or “recording 400 tags of a spot for different markets.” “Doing a thousand tags is a timesaver,” iHeartRadio Pres./ Programming Operations & Digital Music Jon Zellner reiterated in the next day’s “Game Changers” panel. “But once A.I. is doing middays, then we have a problem. With the exception of Jack FM’s, there is not one jockless daypart on any of our stations. We sound as live and local as possible with the technology we have.” “Strong talent is 100% the lifeblood of radio,” added Futuri SVP/Strategic Marketing & Brand Development Zena Burns, whose company rolled out its RadioGPT A.I. service earlier this year. “There are a lot of lackluster unmanned dayparts with stale trackers or all sweepers where A.I. can create more relevant content around live talent.” “A.I. can’t create an emotional bond with the audience yet,” remarked Beasley Chief Content Officer Video Built The Radio Star: Carla Marie, Justin Chase. Anthony Halwagy, Kenny Jay, Tori Dunn and “It can’t raise Aaronee Cottam. millions of (continued on page 5)
Plaqued Up Truck: Capitol‘s Luke Bryan is presented with the SoundExchange Hall of Fame Award and multi-platinum and gold plaques at Nashville‘s Bridgestone Arena. Pictured (l-r) are the label‘s Lori Christian, Bryan, the label‘s Rob Femia and KP Entertainment‘s Kerri Edwards.
Q2 CDM Drivetime Leaders
Following last month’s analysis of the format’s Q2 drive-time leaders in PPM markets, Country Aircheck has also compiled Country’s top performers from Nielsen’s 45 Continuous Diary Measurement (CDM) markets. WZZK/Birmingham’s Rick & Bubba pulled an 11.8 share, good enough to put them back into the format lead after slipping to eighth in the last quarter. The Bee Morning Coffee Club on WBEE/ Rochester – with Terry Clifford, TJ Sharp and new member Bo Jaxon – saw a 7.4 to 11.0 jump to place second for Q2. Holding steady in third is WHKO/Dayton’s New Country Mornings with Nancy Wilson and Aaron “Woody” Woods. Fourth place is held down by The Bobby Bones Show’s airing on WBBS/Syracuse, while the show’s WRNS/Greenville, NC version slides from first place last quarter to a fifth place tie. WIVK/Knoxville was the leader in total week share with an 11.4, and it led in afternoons as well. Gunner leads the format with a 12.2 share,
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