Category: Industry Views

Industry Views

Sabo Sez: It’s All Media

By TALKERS | by TALKERS
Sabo Sez:  It’s All Media
By Walter Sabo
A.K.A. Walter Sterling
Host, The Other Side of Midnight
WABC, New York / Red Apple Audio Networks
img“It’s all media,” declared accomplished media executive Jack Griffin when confronted with brand new definitions of content and content distribution. Jack, for years, was president of Meredith Publishing, Time Inc., and The Tribune Company. I met Jack when he was publisher of PARADE magazine. Jack is pragmatic, won’t waste your time and spots BS faster than most humans. We were listening to discussions of the impact of online media versus traditional media, and his line was running out. Jack declared “It’s all media” and the meeting blessedly ended. The phrase haunts me and it is being proven true every second of every day.
Steve Goldstein, CEO of Podcast consultancy, AMPLIFI, published a white paper on the growing acceptance of podcasts in the dashboards of media buyers. The paper tackles the challenge industry committees have had defining a podcast! [link]

Answer: It defines a podcast as an on-demand, spoken-word show intelligible with your eyes closed – video and RSS are both allowed, neither required.
 
The definition of a podcast is simple, broad, and can be met by any podcaster! And every person and entity is making a podcast. Follow that through to what Griffin declared.
VOGUE magazine puts out podcasts constantly. By most definitions they are really good and brand appropriate. Pretty, gossipy, urgent and current. Much more entertaining than the magazine. The New York Times has more podcast viewers than newspaper readers.
The ever-prescient Michael Harrison was right on the money more than two decades ago when he coined the term “media station” to describe the multi-media platform potential of ANY then-traditional venue such as radio and TV stations, newspapers, magazines, books, and cinema.  The media station has since become a reality and the podcast is one of its main engines.
NPR leads the top 20 lists of podcasters, and they can sell advertising in their podcasts without violating their prime directive.
It’s all media
 
When brands evolve from their original product and mission to a podcast, their methodology for success changes but not their definition of success. Brands want revenue and profit. If a brand’s assets can generate the most profit through podcasts, then podcasts will become their business.
 Audience time with media is the target. Capturing their time. Not viewership, listenership, readership, attention: T I M E because it’s ALL MEDIA.
Ultimately a corporate entity’s starter business could be shuttered in order to grow its podcast.  Good to note that every single newspaper and magazine publisher has one fantasy: Get rid of the paper.  Your competition isn’t WXXX it is becoming the VOGUE podcast.
Walter Sabo has been a C-Suite action partner for companies such as SiriusXM, Hearst, Press Broadcasting, Gannett, RKO General, and many other leading media outlets. His company, HITVIEWS, in 2007, was the first to identify and monetize video influencers. His nightly show “The Other Side of Midnight” is heard on WABC, New York and the Red Apple Audio Network 1:00 am – 5:00 am. His syndicated show, “Sterling On Sunday,” from Talk Media Network, airs 10:00 pm-1:00 am ET, and is now in its 10th year of success. He can be reached by email at sabowalter@gmail.com.  He can be phoned at 646-678-1110.
Industry Views

When AI Speaks, Who’s Accountable?

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

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By Matthew B. Harrison
TALKERS, VP/Associate Publisher
Harrison Media Law, Senior Partner
Goodphone Communications, Executive Producer

 

imgNew laws may hold AI companies responsible, but regulating machine-generated speech presents risks of its own.

Florida recently sued OpenAI and CEO Sam Altman, alleging that they marketed ChatGPT while concealing known safety risks. California has taken a different approach: a company accused of causing harm cannot defend itself simply by saying the AI acted autonomously. Neither development guarantees liability, but both signal that “the AI did it” may no longer work as a legal escape hatch.  

That sounds sensible. An AI model cannot pay damages, carry insurance, exercise professional judgment, or go to jail. If a company releases a system, profits from it, and markets it as useful or reliable, the law should at least ask what the company knew, promised, and reasonably could have prevented.

Mark Walters – host of Armed America Radio – learned how difficult that can be. ChatGPT falsely reported that he had been accused of embezzling money from a gun-rights organization. Walters sued OpenAI for defamation, but a Georgia court granted the company summary judgment in 2025, finding insufficient evidence that OpenAI knew the output was probably false. The machine was wrong; the legal remedy failed.

The harder question involves speech. Colorado adopted requirements intended to prevent discriminatory automated decisions, prompting AI to sue on First Amendment and equal-protection grounds. The Federal Trade Commission has now suggested that secretly steering a model away from the accurate or objective answers users expect could itself constitute consumer deception.

This presents a genuine slippery slope. Government should protect people from fraud, defamation, discrimination, dangerous products, and nonconsensual deepfakes. It should not acquire a broad power to decide what an AI system must identify as “truth,” particularly in areas involving politics, history, public policy, or contested scientific opinion.

For broadcasters and content creators, the immediate lesson remains familiar. AI may assist with research, writing, editing, and production, but it does not inherit responsibility for the finished product. The person or company that publishes the words still needs to verify them, while the companies building the machines should not escape scrutiny merely because no human typed the final sentence.

Accountability should follow control, knowledge, and profit. The challenge will be imposing that accountability without turning AI regulation into government supervision of lawful speech.

Matthew B. Harrison is a media and intellectual property attorney who advises radio hosts, content creators, and creative entrepreneurs. He has written extensively on fair use, AI law, and the future of digital rights. Reach him at Matthew@HarrisonLegalGroup.com or read more at TALKERS.com.

Industry Views

Monday Memo: AI Can’t Fake Real

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

By Holland Cooke
Consultant

imgIn Full Stack Human: The Mindset Upgrade You Need to Stay Human in a World Ruled by Technology (2026, Wiley Books) Dara Simkin and Tane Hunter describe a 2026 media landscape where people face information overload, shrinking attention spans, negativity fatigue, algorithmic manipulation, and constant distraction.

The irony is that radio may win the future not by becoming more like technology, but by becoming more human. In an age of artificial everything, that’s the sustainable competitive advantage local radio has. And the more crowded the media landscape becomes, the more valuable radio’s unique strengths become.

Consider what today’s digital platforms do best. They personalize content as algorithms learn what users like and deliver more of it. Streaming services can build custom playlists. Social media feeds are tailored to individual interests. AI can generate content instantly.

What those platforms cannot do is belong to a community. Spotify doesn’t know why I-95 is jammed. TikTok doesn’t care that the town council just approved a controversial zoning change. An AI-generated playlist can’t tell listeners where to find shelter during a storm or why Friday night’s high school football game matters. Local radio can. And as media becomes increasingly global, local content becomes increasingly scarce. And scarcity creates value.

Citing research, the book points to another opportunity: Digital platforms are optimized to trigger emotion, especially outrage and conflict – the 1990s talk radio caricature on steroids. The result is a public that often feels overwhelmed, exhausted, and anxious.

Listeners want information, and are looking for context, usefulness, connection, and (dare we?) a reason to smile. Stations willing to do more than simply amplify the argument du jour become indispensable. Winners deliver local information, from trusted voices, a genuine connection that answers the listener’s constant question: “What’s in this for me?”

Click here to read a free sample chapter of “Full Stack Human: The Mindset Upgrade You Need to Stay Human in a World Ruled by Technology.”

Holland Cooke (HollandCooke.com) is a consultant working the intersection of broadcasting and the Internet. Follow HC on Twitter @HollandCooke and connect on LinkedIn

Industry Views

Harrison: Don’t Believe that AI Lacks “Heart”

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

imgTALKERS founder Michael Harrison is this week’s guest on the National Press Club’s official podcast, Update-1, in which he tackles the topic “Predicting the Future of Media Following the Shutdown of CBS News Radio.” Interviewed by noted American University media professor Gemma Puglisi, Harrison addresses such issues as changes in the tenets of journalism and the general shrinkage of radio news. Along the way, he offers his insights into a variety of media and societal topics including the impact of clickbait and what he describes as “the daily dance of affirmation” resulting imgfrom the trend toward news platforms “targeting” audiences for purely marketing purposes. Harrison defends AI from critics who claim the technology lacks “heart” and that audiences will swing back to the “authenticity” being destroyed by AI slop. Harrison makes the case that what counts is the humanity behind the operation of AI which is “only a tool.” He says, “Blaming AI for shallow content is like attributing shoddy novels to the invention of the word processor.” Harrison boldly predicts that AI and modern technology will hasten the “death of Hollywood” as we know it among other insights into the future of news, entertainment, and communications.  Don’t miss this!  To listen to the podcast in its entirety, please click here.

Industry Views

Monday Memo: Robot vs. Robot

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

By Holland Cooke
Consultant

imgRadio stations used to announce the present temperature at the end of the weather forecast, empowering listeners who are heading out to dress accordingly. It’s the ultimate live-N-local information.

 It was SO conspicuous that – in diary markets – competing stations would fib if the temperature was a competitor’s dial position. I was the 7-midnight DJ during WPRO’s 1970s Top 40 heyday — yep, a live voice at night, before the overnight guy took over. Our AM dial position was 63, a temperature never announced on WGNG (55) or WJAR (92). And vice-versa.

Back to the future: The forecast still airs on AM/FM radio, but often without a live temp’ at the end, because the station is robotic and the weather is canned. Common faux pas: At 4 pm, the forecast begins “Today will be…”

Listeners who want the temperature now get it – instantly – where Amazon Prime subscribers can also ask for 2 million songs…from a robot, Alexa.

In next week’s column here: How radio wins the future – not by becoming more like technology, but by becoming more human. 

Holland Cooke (HollandCooke.com) is a consultant working the intersection of broadcasting and the Internet. Follow HC on Twitter @HollandCooke and connect on LinkedIn

Industry Views

Tradup: Lindsey Graham’s Death a Loss for Talk Radio

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

In a piece written for Townhall.com, Salem Radio Network vice president Tom Tradup writes that talk radio will miss Graham: “But beyond the Beltway political drama, Lindsey Graham’s passing is a huge loss to talk radio, where he was a ubiquitous presence for imgyears. Unlike many of his timid Senate colleagues, the senator was always delighted to join local and national talk shows without being blocked by the annoying Praetorian Guard of Capitol Hill aides dragging their feet, demanding questions in advance, placing limits on topics to be discussed and other myopic restrictions.” Tradup goes on to note, “Salem Radio Network host Mike Gallagher frequently welcomed Lindsey Graham on his nationally syndicated talk show, as did Salem’s Hugh Hewitt and others. Graham was also a featured guest on Sean Hannity’s radio and FOX News Channel programs, as well as Salem’s ‘This Week on Capitol Hill’ with Tony Perkins and virtually every Sunday talk show.” Read his column here.

Industry Views

Monday Memo: Eat Your Ice Cream

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

By Holland Cooke
Consultant

img“Globalization and the deconstruction of community and country, an addictive media system that runs on algorithms we don’t understand and can’t escape, the unpredictability of climate change, Gilded Age-level inequality, and the worry that generative AI will control rather than be controlled by us.”

Those facts-of-life come from Ezekiel J. Emanuel MD, who reckons make us “feel vulnerable, anxious, and powerless – at the mercy of forces beyond our reach. So, we embrace what we can control: our own wellness.”

Emanuel is a University of Pennsylvania professor, bioethicist, and oncologist, and was one of the architects of the Affordable Care Act. His best-selling book, Eat Your Ice Cream: Six Simple Rules for a Long and Healthy Life, is HIGHLY recommended. Much of what you read will be as surprising as the title.

Click here to read a sample chapter, FREE.

If you own or manage a radio station, reread his quote above. See the opportunity.

In a world where people feel unmoored, a local radio station that reliably shows up with clarity and calm — that helps people feel a little less powerless — becomes more than a medium. It becomes the one they won’t live without.

Holland Cooke (HollandCooke.com) is a consultant working the intersection of broadcasting and the Internet. Follow HC on Twitter @HollandCooke and connect on LinkedIn

Industry Views

Who Gets to Decide If and Why a Guest is Newsworthy?

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

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By Matthew B. Harrison
TALKERS, VP/Associate Publisher
Harrison Media Law, Senior Partner
Goodphone Communications, Executive Producer

imgA political candidate sits down for a broadcast interview. The host asks questions. The conversation reaches into policy, personality, controversy, and campaign issues… just another day in the world of talk radio.

To the FCC, depending on the program and the circumstances, it may raise a different question: did the station give one legally qualified candidate a broadcast “use” of its facilities that now triggers equal opportunities for opponents? That question sits at the center of ABC’s dispute with the FCC over “The View,” and it deserves the attention of every broadcaster who books public officials, candidates, advocates, and political personalities.

This is not an article about whether anyone likes “The View.” That is the wrong question. The better question is whether the government should decide, after the fact, that a long-running interview program no longer qualifies as a bona fide news interview program because regulators dislike, distrust, or second-guess its guest selection.

The Equal Opportunities Rule, often called “equal time,” is not the Fairness Doctrine. The Fairness Doctrine is gone. However, equal opportunity requirements remain part of broadcast law. In general terms, when a broadcast station permits a legally qualified candidate to “use” its facilities, opposing legally qualified candidates for the same office may be entitled to comparable opportunity, unless an exemption applies.

One such exemption covers bona fide news interviews.

That exemption matters because it allows broadcasters to cover politics without turning every meaningful candidate interview into a scheduling trap. The law recognizes that a news judgment is different from a campaign favor. A host may interview a candidate because that candidate is newsworthy, controversial, powerful, interesting, or central to a public issue, not because the station has endorsed the campaign.

ABC’s argument is that “The View“ already cleared that hurdle more than two decades ago, when the FCC treated it as a bona fide news interview program. ABC now says the Commission has forced the issue back onto the table and is effectively asking whether the government should dictate which candidates the program may feature. That is why ABC’s filing points beyond daytime television and directly toward talk radio.

Talk radio should not dismiss that warning. The format routinely features candidates and officeholders without immediately inviting every opponent. Sometimes the reason is obvious: one guest is in the news and the others are not. Sometimes the reason is practical: a candidate accepts and the opponent declines. Sometimes the reason is editorial: the host believes one interview will better serve the audience.

Those are normal programming judgments. But if regulators start looking behind those judgments for partisan motive, the risk changes. The question becomes less “Was this guest newsworthy?” and more “Can you prove to the government that your reason was acceptable?” That is a dangerous shift for any medium built around editorial discretion.

This does not mean broadcasters should panic or stop booking candidates. It does mean stations, networks and programs should tighten their habits. Know when a guest is a legally qualified candidate. Understand when an appearance may count as a use. Keep clean records. Preserve the editorial reason for the booking. Make sure producers and hosts know the difference between a campaign appearance, a news interview, and paid political time.

The larger warning is simple: broadcast talk is regulated speech in a way podcasts, YouTube shows, and most streaming programs are not. That distinction already matters for indecency, sponsorship identification, public files, political files, and license obligations. Now it may matter again in the heart of the format itself: who gets invited to talk.

The government should not sit in the producer’s chair. But broadcasters should not pretend the chair is invisible. The best protection is not silence. It is disciplined editorial judgment, documented in real time, applied consistently, and defended as what it is: the broadcaster’s constitutional role in deciding what is newsworthy for its audience.

Matthew B. Harrison is a media and intellectual property attorney who advises radio hosts, content creators, and creative entrepreneurs. He has written extensively on fair use, AI law, and the future of digital rights. Reach him at Matthew@HarrisonLegalGroup.com or read more at TALKERS.com.

Industry Views

Harrison and Elci Discuss 250th Anniversary and Talk Industry Issues

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

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TALKERS founder Michael Harrison was interviewed by guest host Lee Elci on multi-media talk star Wayne Allyn Root‘s nationally syndicated program “The WAR Zone” this past Tuesday (7/7).  Elci, the daily morning host on WJJF, New London, CT, is an occasional guest host on the popular “WAR Zone” show.  Harrison and Elci engaged in a candid examination of the state of politics and media in America at this drama-filled juncture in the nation’s history.  Not to be missed.  To see the uninterrupted excerpted dialogue, please click here.

Industry Views

Monday Memo: Radio’s 2027 Talent Strategy: Destination by Design

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

By Holland Cooke
Consultant

imgIf your station is outside the top 50 markets, you already know the pressure points. A mature workforce stretched thin. Fewer applicants for on air and production roles – specifically the younger creators who don’t see radio as their first creative outlet. And a competitive landscape where streaming, satellite, and podcasts divert attention with the gravitational pull of a black hole.

But radio can absolutely attract these next-gen creators. We just can’t do it with yesterday’s playbook. In “Future Work World,” Barry Winkless argues that organizations must intentionally design themselves to “excite, entice, and engage” the next generation of talent. He’s talking about the future of work broadly – but his framework fits independent local radio like a blueprint. Especially in medium and small markets, where stations are fighting a two-front war: defending local relevance while competing with global audio giants. Accordingly…

  1. Redesign roles for the “Work Salad” generation.

One of the book’s core ideas is the rise of “work salads” – workers who blend skills, platforms, and creative identities rather than fitting neatly into a single job description. That’s today’s creator economy in a nutshell. For radio, this means offering roles like host+podcaster+social storyteller; or news voice+explainer video creator+local events personality. Younger creators don’t want an airshift. They want a mix – a portfolio of creative outputs. Stations that offer that mix will win talent that would otherwise bypass radio entirely.

  1. Make your station a Designed Destination.

Winkless’ “Destination Designer” mindset recommends environments where people want to be, because the place itself inspires them. For radio, this means a workplace that feels flexible, fluid, and creatively alive. You don’t need a big market budget to create a big market feel. You need intentionality and a willingness to break from “how we’ve always done it.” Turn a legacy operation into a future ready talent magnet.

  1. Use AI the way creators already do.

In one of the book’s fictional “jumps,” Winkless introduces the “cowerka,” an AI assistant that handles tasks, anticipates needs, and frees humans to focus on what only humans can do. AI can help prep shows, suggesting ways to localize trends and topics. Nextgen creators already use AI as a collaborator. Stations that embrace this reality will feel familiar – and attractive – to them.

  1. Sell the one thing no competitor can match: Local Reach

Streaming platforms offer scale. Podcasts offer intimacy. Satellite offers variety. Only radio offers local presence at scale.

Creators want audiences – podcasters hunger for what radio has: cume. Broadcast radio can give them something TikTok can’t: instant legitimacy in a real community. As I have explained here previously, we position client stations as reach engines: Instead of asking creators to serve radio, radio serves creators.

  1. Tell a Better Story About Who You’re Becoming

Winkless’ “Next Level Storytelling” chapter cautions that your recruitment story can’t be: “We need someone to do afternoons.” Instead: “We’re building the next chapter of local media, and we want creators who want to shape it.”

Creators don’t join job descriptions. They join stories.

The Bottom Line

Local radio doesn’t need to out tech the tech giants. It needs to out human them. By redesigning roles, modernizing culture, embracing AI, and positioning radio as a creator platform – not just a broadcast outlet – stations can attract the next generation of talent that will keep them relevant, resilient, and indispensable.

Your RIGHT NOW opportunity: As fill-in voices cover for vacationing full-timers, you can preview 2027 talent options. To help them smooth-out any rough edges – and assess how well they take direction – here are 12 Tips for the guest-hosts who are not career broadcasters and don’t share our second-nature performance routines.

Holland Cooke (HollandCooke.com) is a consultant working the intersection of broadcasting and the Internet. Follow HC on Twitter @HollandCooke and connect on LinkedIn

Industry Views

Monday Memo: Those Lazy, Hazy, Crazy Days

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

By Holland Cooke
Consultant

imgNo two summers have been alike since the pandemic upended listeners’ lives and retailers’ businesses. So, we’ve seen this movie before. To sound relevant and relatable and helpful, connect the dots:

Gas prices and pricier airfares are scortching summer getaways many hoped for. Are there family day trips and local attractions that locals might take for granted, or not know about?

Do “Fun-formation.” Inflation is pinching everyone in every way… including YOU. Notice how you yourself are coping and share on-air. And interview locals who can suggest money-saving life hacks. Including… advertisers you have made household names. Airing their advice will result in even more “I heard you on the radio.”

Start with financial advisors. Heavy AM/FM users are in the worry-about-IRA / 401K demographic.

It’s a safe bet that listeners have the talk radio gloom-N-doom script memorized. Stuff like the above HELPS them.

Holland Cooke (HollandCooke.com) is a consultant working the intersection of broadcasting and the Internet. Follow HC on Twitter @HollandCooke and connect on LinkedIn

Industry Views

The Most Valuable Commodity AI Can’t Generate

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

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By Matthew B. Harrison
TALKERS, VP/Associate Publisher
Harrison Media Law, Senior Partner
Goodphone Communications, Executive Producer
imgThroughout the TALKERS 2026 conference, there was a recurring theme that bears repeating:

Technology creates abundance. Authenticity creates value.

Throughout human history, creating media required expensive equipment, specialized knowledge, or access to someone willing to open the door. Each technological leap removed another layer of friction. Desktop publishing challenged traditional print. Digital audio transformed radio production. YouTube made anyone with a camera a broadcaster or “content creator.” Podcasting removed the need for a transmitter. Today, generative AI can help write scripts, edit video, compose music, translate languages, and produce polished content in minutes.

That isn’t the end of creativity. It’s the beginning of an era with more creativity than we’ve ever seen.

We should cautiously embrace it.

Every time technology lowers the barrier to creation, more people get the opportunity to tell stories, share ideas, build businesses, and reach audiences that were once inaccessible. That’s a remarkable thing.

Abundance, however, changes the economics.

When content was scarce, simply producing it created value. Today, content is everywhere. Tomorrow, there will be even more. Artificial intelligence isn’t replacing creators nearly as much as it’s multiplying them.

When everyone can create, audiences need a different way to decide what deserves their attention.

They look for authenticity.

Authenticity isn’t about perfection. It isn’t about expensive production. It isn’t even about whether AI helped along the way. It’s about whether audiences believe there is a real person behind the work, someone with genuine experience, judgment, and something worth saying.

That idea also explains why fair use has always mattered.

Fair use protects commentary, criticism, reporting, scholarship, and parody because those activities add something new to the conversation. Copyright law has long recognized that society benefits when creators contribute insight rather than simply repeat what already exists. The principle hasn’t changed. The tools have.

Media has entered another frontier. The rules are still developing. Business models continue to evolve. New voices appear every day. Some will succeed because they mastered the latest technology.

The most enduring voices will succeed because people trust them.

Broadcasters have always understood this, even if we didn’t always describe it that way. Listeners return because they believe the personality behind the microphone.

The same is true for podcasters, streamers, YouTubers, journalists, and creators of every kind.

Technology will continue creating abundance. That’s worth celebrating.

The opportunity now is to create something abundance cannot replace.

Authenticity.

Matthew B. Harrison is a media and intellectual property attorney who advises radio hosts, content creators, and creative entrepreneurs. He has written extensively on fair use, AI law, and the future of digital rights. Reach him at Matthew@HarrisonLegalGroup.com or read more at TALKERS.com.

 

Industry Views

Former CBS Radio Head Dan Mason Guests on TALKERS Podcast – Discusses New Memoir, Colorful Career, Biz Philosophy, and the State of Radio

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

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Dan Mason, former president / CEO of CBS Radio, is this week’s special guest on the TALKERS video podcast, “Up Close Far Out.”

Podcast host Michael Harrison and Mason engage in a robust conversation about radio prompted by the release of Mason’s new book, FEARLESS: The Life and Times of a Media Maverick.  All profits generated by the sale of the memoir are being donated to the Broadcasters Foundation of America – the non-profit organization that helps those in need in the radio and television industries that Mason serves as chairman emeritus.

Mason is one of the most influential radio broadcasters of the modern era.  As head of CBS Radio from 2007 to 2015, he oversaw all aspects relating to the company’s portfolio of 117 stations across 26 markets, including all the top 10. In a prior stint at CBS Radio, he held the presidency from 1995 to 2002.  In addition to his roles at CBS, he advised and managed a number of other major broadcast organizations including serving as president of Westinghouse’s Group W Radio in the early 1990s

In 2016, Mason was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame and, in 2022, into the Broadcasting and Cable Hall of Fame. He was a member of the board of directors of the National Association of Broadcasters, which presented him with the 2012 National Radio Award for outstanding leadership within the radio industry.  Michael Harrison states, “Dan Mason was one of the major leaders who guided radio from the analog to the digital era.”

To view this conversation in its entirety, please click here.

Industry Views

Monday Memo: Improving Results from Endorsement Spots

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

By Holland Cooke
Consultant

imgThe stations I work with make big money with live endorsement spots delivered by familiar local on-air personalities. Remember them? With most AM/FM broadcast hours now robotic or non-local, your relationship with the listener is precious and can be leveraged… carefully.

Quality vs. Quantity

The more products or services you endorse, the less special each pitch will be. You’re asking the listener’s trust each time, so asking too often can sound insincere. So back-to-back “I’m [name] for [account]” is verboten, and that can happen when spots you voice air outside your show.

“Tell me a story”

When the late, great Don Hewitt – the father of “60 Minutes” – spoke at a NAB convention years ago, he told us that he was often asked, “Why is this the most successful TV news show of all time?” And he said, “I can tell you in four words: ‘Tell me a story,’” which every piece does.

Describe your personal experience with the advertiser’s product or service in before-and-after fashion – problem was, problem solved – in a relatable way.

OOPS. Are you saying, “I haven’t sold you yet?”

Often, these are long-standing advertiser relationships.  Two cautions:

If you’ve been touting an advertiser for a while, DON’T say so. “For years, I’ve been telling you about [name of business].” Translation: “…and I haven’t sold you yet, have I?” Instead, keep the pitch fresh.

And keep it customer-centric; rather than talking about a store. In one spot I heard, for a sewing supply retailer, the well-intentioned host sounded awestruck as he recited the store’s inventory (“over fifteen hundred bolts of fabric!”). That’s the store’s problem. Instead, solve the listener’s problem: “Imagine the money you could save if you made all your kids’ back-to-school clothes this year?  [advertiser] will give you free sewing lessons!”

Avoid saying…

  • “MY GOOD FRIENDS AT [name of business],” which sounds phony.
  • “All-new:”Say “new,” if it IS new, AND if newness is a listener benefit (and say why).
  • “…AND MUCH MORE,” which means nothing. Weed-out stuff like this, and you’ll give copy more time to breathe.
  • “Needs,” as in: “FOR ALL YOUR [product category] NEEDS” (the ultimate “BLAH, BLAH, BLAH”).

More?

My video “Make Money with Endorsement Spots:” https://youtu.be/fReiC8WLTac

Holland Cooke (HollandCooke.com) is a consultant working the intersection of broadcasting and the Internet. Follow HC on Twitter @HollandCooke and connect on LinkedIn

Industry Views

Monday Memo: Time to Update Baseball Sponsors’ In-Game Spots?

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

By Holland Cooke
Consultant

img“Baseball is back!” was welcome in April (especially after a rough winter in many places). But it sounds embarrassingly old by now.

Does the advertiser have a new offer or other copy change? Even if not, you-being-in-touch sends a message… as does you not-being-in-touch.

Holland Cooke (HollandCooke.com) is a consultant working the intersection of broadcasting and the Internet. Follow HC on Twitter @HollandCooke and connect on LinkedIn

Industry Views

The Advertiser Gave It To Me. Isn’t That Enough?

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

Harrison's imagination of reality

By Matthew B. Harrison
TALKERS, VP/Associate Publisher
Harrison Media Law, Senior Partner
Goodphone Communications, Executive Producer

imgA local advertiser sends over a ready-made commercial. The music is catchy. The script is polished. The production value is surprisingly good for a company that spends most of its day installing garage doors.

The salesperson approves it. Traffic schedules it. The spot airs.

A few months later, somebody else’s lawyer hears it too.

Many media professionals assume that when an advertiser supplies content, the advertiser has already secured whatever permissions are necessary to use it. Sometimes that’s true. Sometimes it isn’t.

If a commercial contains copyrighted music, photographs, video, artwork, or other protected material, the fact that it came from a client does not automatically end the discussion. The advertiser may have obtained the rights. The advertiser may have assumed someone else obtained the rights. The advertiser may never have asked.

Artificial intelligence is creating new versions of the same problem.

Recently, I was asked about a commercial generated almost entirely through AI. The advertiser used one platform to create the script and another to generate the voice. Everything sounded original. No famous song. No movie clip. No obvious red flags.

Yet one question remained:

How do you know the advertiser had the right to use it?

That question can lead in several directions. Did the AI platform permit commercial use? Was the voice modeled after a real person? Does it sound enough like a celebrity to create endorsement concerns? Can the advertiser demonstrate where the content came from and what rights accompany it?

Fortunately, the solution is usually simple. Ask the advertiser.

Most legitimate advertisers are happy to explain how the content was created and what rights they possess. The conversation often takes only a few minutes.

Broadcasters, podcasters, streamers, and digital creators all face the same reality. Before a commercial airs, someone should know where the content came from and whether the necessary rights exist.

The technology may change. The question remains remarkably durable: How do you know you had the right to use this?

Matthew B. Harrison is a media and intellectual property attorney who advises radio hosts, content creators, and creative entrepreneurs. He has written extensively on fair use, AI law, and the future of digital rights. Reach him at Matthew@HarrisonMediaLaw.com or read more at https://harrisonlegalgroup.com.

Industry Views

Monday Memo: Because “Check-Out Our Website” Sounds SO 1995…

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

By Holland Cooke
Consultant

img…I’m sharing promo copy now airing on my client stations, which addresses listeners’ – and advertisers’ — 2026 apprehensions:

Voice1: Online safety and privacy were already a concern…

Voice2: …and that was BEFORE what we now see Artificial Intelligence doing.

Voice1: But digital media are now part of everyday life, and always will be.

Voice2: So WHERE you get your information matters more than ever.

Voice1: And your-only-local-news-radio also makes [domain name] a place you can visit with confidence…safely and securely.

Voice2: We don’t put spyware or junk on your browser. We don’t spy on you. We don’t violate your privacy.

Voice1: You can trust [domain name]

Here is a produced example, featuring our morning host and anchor: http://getonthenet.com/30-KTBB-Trust.mp3

Holland Cooke (HollandCooke.com) is a consultant working the intersection of broadcasting and the Internet. Follow HC on Twitter @HollandCooke and connect on LinkedIn

Industry Views

Therapy, Entrepreneurism, and Talk Radio

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

By Pamela Garber, LMHC
Grand Central Counseling Group
New York

imgThe iconic TALKERS conference is coming up this Friday (6/5) and, again, I am looking forward to it.  As a practicing therapist and prolific talk show guest for over two decades, I find this unique gathering to be a productive educational and social ritual. It provides an opportunity to make new friends, strengthen existing relationships, and learn new things about the ever-evolving talk media industry. We have similar issues in the mental health field marked by encroaching corporatism in a business once fueled by “mom & pop” operators and independent practitioners.

I am pleased to see that one of the prevailing themes of this year’s TALKERS gathering is a call for the rebirth of entrepreneurism in the radio arena. This is certainly applicable to those brave souls willing to buck the onslaught of consolidation and take the daring leap into station ownership. But it also applies to management-level pros who are faced with learning “intrepreneurship” in order to be effective, productive, and at home within the potentially stifling environment of a large corporation. Entrepreneurism also applies to “talent” now presented with endless opportunities to be their own persons in podcasting, blogging, and myriad online endeavors. Talk show hosts are the “brand managers” of their own personas.

I like talk show hosts for reasons that go beyond their political ideologies. For the most part, talk show hosts are brave, informed, outgoing (at least in performance), quirky and, no matter how seemingly tough on the air, sensitive to being easily bruised and emotionally pained.

Talk show hosts and therapists share similar functions and traits in the performance of their jobs, not to mention their commonality with entrepreneurs. It takes entrepreneurial thinking in identifying and solving problems – the backbone of both therapy and talk show hosting. To a certain degree, therapists are talk show hosts and talk show hosts are therapists.  And both groups are in need of developing their entrepreneurial instincts.

All professions attract individuals with certain emotional and behavioral challenges. Clichéd therapist portrayals show common clinician flaws such as being rigid, or overly analytical, as well as being too distant and reserved. Talk show hosts are not as burdened by behavioral pressures as therapists which include strict licensing regulations and the potential threat of bad “reviews,” but they have a slew of their own restraints to contend with in keeping their audiences and their jobs.

Talk show hosts DO have one enviable option in dealing with callers, not as readily available to therapists for handling patients. They actually get to hang up on people.

Pamela Garber, LMHC is a practicing therapist based in NYC and South Florida and a longtime guest mental health commentator on radio and television news programs across the nation. She can be contacted by phone at 646-745-6709 or email at Pamelagarber@gmail.com.  Her website is Grandcentralcounselinggroup.com.

Industry Views

Monday Memo: Hungry for Some Summer Fun Next Month?

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

By Holland Cooke
Consultant

imgIf you are doing talk radio, much of your programming is syndicated. If you do music radio, your most formidable competitors are robotic streams that live in the cloud. Either way, YOU, being local, can make friends — and money — if you plan now to exploit these occasions.

  • Monday, July 6: National Fried Chicken Day
  • Tuesday, July 7: World Chocolate Day
  • Friday, July 10: National French Fry Day
  • Tuesday, July 14: National Mac & Cheese Day
  • Sunday, July 19: National Ice Cream Day
  • Wednesday, July 29: National Chicken Wing Day

And after all that, may I suggest a National Alka-Seltzer Day? JUST kidding. Wash-it-all-down on Friday, July 24, National Tequila Day.

For more upcoming opportunities to mingle with listeners — and engage advertisers – download my FREE 2026 Events + Occasions Calendar. Scroll down the home page at HollandCooke.com

Holland Cooke (HollandCooke.com) is a consultant working the intersection of broadcasting and the Internet. Follow HC on Twitter @HollandCooke and connect on LinkedIn

Industry Views

SABO SEZ: Look at the Actual Numbers

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

By Walter Sabo
A.K.A Walter Sterling
Host, The Other Side of Midnight
WABC, New York / Red Apple Audio Networks

imgBillionaires make predominantly good investments, which is why they are billionaires.

John Malone saved Sirius with a $500 million investment just days from the company missing payroll. He remains the controlling shareholder.

Warren Buffett just made a significant investment in highly profitable SiriusXM.

George Soros owns Audacy. Audacy’s robust list of major market radio stations are jewels that require a better financial structure. Soros Fund Management bought $400,000,000 of the company’s debt and controlling ownership. Note that Soros now owns all but one of the country’s all-news stations.

Apollo Advisor’s billionaire CEO Marc Rowan – a former candidate for Secretary of the U.S. Treasury – owns Cox Radio and Television. Apollo was an original investor in Sirius.

John Catsimatidis wrote a check for WABC-AM and is buying more properties. Radio properties. Cats owns an oil refinery, land, and the Gristedes supermarket chain, but his focus is on WABC Radio.

The health of radio? The future? Those sharp investors, brutal businesspeople, determine the business future of radio, and they are apparently very optimistic!

Failing industries don’t expand

In 1970, there were 2,126 commercial stations in the U.S.

Today there are:

  • AM stations: 4,342
  • FM commercial stations: 6,589
  • FM noncommercial (educational) stations: 4,755

Sell the biggest number

Cable channels are investor valued by “Homes Passed.” Not audience or cash flow. How many people who can see the programming rather than how many people actually see the programming.  Now apply that logic to radio station values.

BILLBOARDS sell impressions. Impressions represent the total number of people who could potentially see a billboard ad.  That is the biggest number by which billboard can be measured, so that’s what they sell.

DIRECT MAIL is the number one local ad medium. It is data driven beyond your wildest dreams. Direct mail automation uses real-time signals and integrated data to deliver mail at the most meaningful point in the customer journey. For example, when someone abandons a shopping cart or repeatedly views a product online, you can design a programmatic mailing campaign to automatically send print pieces in response to that specific consumer behavior.

Rather than pushing the biggest, stable number – CUME – radio sells the smallest measurements. Radio’s 100+ years of success, astonishing outlet growth, 92% penetration of American homes, 65% daily population usage deserve has earned a much higher commercial unit price.

Walter Sabo has been a C-Suite action partner for companies such as SiriusXM, Hearst, Press Broadcasting, Gannett, RKO General, and many other leading media outlets. His company, HITVIEWS, in 2007, was the first to identify and monetize video influencers. His nightly show “The Other Side of Midnight” is heard on WABC, New York and the Red Apple Audio Network 1:00 am – 5:00 am. His syndicated show, “Sterling On Sunday,” from Talk Media Network, airs 10:00 pm-1:00 am ET, and is now in its 10th year of success. He can be reached by email at sabowalter@gmail.com.  He can be phoned at 646-678-1110.

Industry Views

Pakman Suggests YouTube Systems are Reducing Exposure for Left-Leaning Indie Channels

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

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David Pakman, a major online liberal political commentator, is publicly alleging that YouTube’s recommendation and distribution systems are dramatically reducing exposure for left-leaning independent media channels, creating what he describes as an “existential crisis” for progressive political creators on the platform.

In a recent video, Pakman said that since early April, “YouTube has dramatically reduced performance for the vast majority of left-leaning independent media shows,” while asserting that right-leaning content does not appear to be experiencing the same decline.

Pakman framed the issue primarily through platform analytics rather than overt accusations of intentional censorship. He pointed to a sharp decline in impressions – the number of times YouTube displays a video thumbnail to users – while claiming audience engagement metrics remain largely stable.

“We were getting 15 million impressions a day,” Pakman said, explaining that the figure later dropped to approximately 10 million despite what he described as an unchanged audience response rate. “The click-through rate is still close to 8%. But impressions go from 15 million down to 10 million.”

Pakman argued that the consistency of click-through rates undermines the idea that audiences have simply lost interest in progressive political content. “It appears that people are just as interested in hearing from the left on YouTube right now, but they are not being shown the videos,” he said.

He also cited viewer feedback as evidence that something unusual may be occurring within YouTube’s recommendation ecosystem. According to Pakman, subscribers have repeatedly reported needing to manually search for his content despite being subscribed and having notifications enabled.

“You were being suppressed in distribution,” Pakman quoted one viewer as saying. Another viewer reportedly wrote: “I’m not seeing your new videos, and I’ve been subscribed for years.”

Pakman stopped short of alleging direct political targeting by YouTube employees or executives. “I am not arguing that someone at YouTube has flipped a switch and is deliberately suppressing left-wing channels,” he said. Instead, he suggested the platform’s recommendation systems may be reacting to engagement patterns or retention metrics in ways that inadvertently disadvantage certain political content.

At the same time, Pakman said performance on other digital platforms remains strong, including TikTok, Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook, and podcast distribution channels. “Every single other platform is doing fine,” he said. “It’s only YouTube.”

The comments add to a broader ongoing debate among digital creators regarding algorithmic visibility, platform transparency, and the growing dependence of independent media companies on recommendation systems they neither control nor fully understand.

Pakman urged viewers to subscribe directly, enable “all notifications,” and join his Substack mailing list in an effort to reduce reliance on platform algorithms. “We don’t want to rely on AI for recommendations,” he said. “We have to go back to telling the platforms what we want.”

To view David Pakman’s recent video in which he discusses this issue in full detail, please click here.

Industry Views

The Case for Radio “Trading” Shows

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

By Charles Heller
Host
“Swap Shop Radio”
“Liberty Watch Radio”
KVOI – AM 1030, Tucson

imgAdam Smith‘s “invisible hand” is a metaphor he used to describe how individuals pursuing their own self-interest in competitive markets can unintentionally produce socially beneficial outcomes – such as efficient allocation of resources and increased wealth. Smith uses the phrase in The Theory of Moral Sentiments in 1759 and more famously in The Wealth of Nations in1776.

Radio’s ability to connect to a phone line to air has evolved since its inception in World War II. Barry Gray is widely credited for being an establishing influence for the talk show format (although it is difficult to truly identify “firsts” in radio). As the story goes, initially a disc jockey, Gray was working for New York City radio station WOR in 1945 when bandleader Woody Herman called in while Gray was talking about him. Gray shared his end of the call with the audience, and the spontaneous live narrative was a hit with both his listeners and station managers. This led to the invention of the “delay” unit and contributed to the practice of connecting live listeners to the air.

Since the 1950s, programs all across the country began to arise that offered people the ability to buy and sell their own goods over the radio, starting first in rural markets. One of the longest running of them started in 1950 on WLIL in Tennessee and runs daily from 9:00 to 10:30 am. I have heard programs like it in my travels across the country from Sycamore, IL to Baltimore, MD, which have a Sunday morning trading program. Today, most markets have one form or another of those shows, either on a daily basis in smaller markets, or in some cases, covering large market areas. I heard one in Bentonville, AR station that took calls from Arkansas, Oklahoma, Missouri, and Kansas while I was listening.

These programs enhance people’s ability to live their lives more easily, by offering a format for buying, selling, and trading goods in the free market. Those programs also use the influence of radio to form all important communities of interest that are part of the glue that keeps a free republic together, as the great Tucson Broadcaster John C. Scott said, “over this back yard fence.”

This month marks the start of my 28th year of broadcasting “The Swap Shop” on AM 1030 KVOI. In 27 years, the program has only missed two weeks of broadcast. It has become what the great Dave Sitton of ESPN and FOX used to call “appointment radio” for a lot of folks in the Tucson market. I have listeners in Maine that call in for non-rusted auto parts, and a loyal listener in Traverse City, MI and a submarine hunter in the Navy in Norfolk, VA.

I call Swap Shop, “The unregulated free market, governed only by common courtesy and common sense, where you are free to buy, sell or trade anything lawful and moral.” All of these shows do a lot more for people besides the enabling of the free market. My favorites have been a lady who called in when her parakeet got out, and a fellow who called 45 minutes later from his garage sale where the parakeet flew in. They both just happened to be listeners. Another favorite was an older lady whose husky had gotten out during a thunderstorm. She called in tears. The animal control officer who had the dog in her truck heard it and called her, returning her dog.

My point is that as broadcasters, we are all stewards of that “unseen hand” of the free market, either by enabling the free trade in goods between private parties or enabling our advertisers to become known and trusted by their communities. If you run a Swap Shop type program, or know of one in other markets, I’d like to hear from you. Let’s develop an informal network of us around the country.

Charles Heller hosts “Swap Shop Radio” and “Liberty Watch Radio” 0n AM 1030 KVOI, Tucson.  He can be reached via email at charles@libertywatchradio.com.

Industry Views

A Thank You to TALKERS and the Voices Behind the Mic

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

By Jessica Crotty
CEO
C. Crane

imgRadio has always been about connection, the feeling of belonging to something larger than yourself, of being drawn into a story told by a voice you trust. Perhaps, that’s why you tune in as well. There is little that is more rewarding for us than finding a way to connect you to what you want to hear, whether that’s your favorite jazz station, a particular show, or your former alma mater’s student-run station. It’s why we do what we do, and why we show up for the people who keep those stories alive.

If you’ve ever wondered where the people who make talk radio gather – the hosts, station owners, program directors, engineers, the visionaries behind the scenes and in front of the mic – look no further than TALKERS. TALKERS magazine’s annual conference is one of the industry’s premier meeting grounds, where talk radio and the evolving world of spoken-word media get taken seriously as a craft, a business, and a cultural force. Talk radio: The original influencer.

Michael Harrison has spent decades as one of radio’s most honest champions. He has consistently pushed the industry to think harder, challenge the status quo, and defend the freedom of speech that gives every great story room to breathe.

Crane was part of that world very early on, when we attended our first TALKERS conference in New York. We’ve been back many times since as attendees and sponsors, and Michael and the TALKERS crew have always been genuinely good to us. We make the radios people use to listen to radio, and being welcomed into the room where those stories get made is something we don’t take for granted.

Over the years, those rooms have introduced us to some extraordinary people. Gene Burns was a favorite long before seeing him at TALKERS. C. Crane had advertised with him on KGO, and his gift for drawing you in came through in everything he did. He hosted many shows over his career; “Dining Around with Gene Burns” was a personal favorite, and Gene and his producer Joel Riddell could point you to the best restaurant in almost any city and just nail it. The speech Gene gave on freedom of speech was one of the best I’ve ever heard, a fierce and passionate defense that stayed with you long after it ended. I also remember the head engineer ar WOR (at the time), Thomas Ray, taking the time to walk me through the mechanics of radio towers while I was manning our booth. That kind of generous, unguarded knowledge sharing is something you don’t forget.

We’ll be back in New York again this year for TALKERS 2026: Radio’s Next Chapter. The landscape continues to change, but what hasn’t changed is the seriousness with which the people in that room take their craft, and their commitment to the stories only radio tells. We’re proud to be part of it. Thank you, TALKERS. Thank you to everyone in that room, past and present, who continues to show up for this event and for radio. We certainly wouldn’t be the company we are without you.

Jessica Crotty is the CEO of C. Crane, a major manufacturer and distributor of radios and radio-oriented devices.  She can be reached via email at jcrotty@ccrane.com. Meet her at TALKERS 2026 on June 5 at Hofstra University.

Industry Views

Monday Memo: Sayonara CBS

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

By Holland Cooke
Consultant

imgAlthough I don’t have a machine to play it, I have saved the cart. December 9, 1980, the sad morning-after John Lennon died, Charles Osgood, doleful: “I read the news today. Oh boy.” That morning’s CBS World News Roundup – and on-hour newscasts throughout that day – delivered more moments that would keep you sitting in a parked car at your destination. As they would 3 months later when President Reagan was shot. Then soon again when Pope John Paul II was severely wounded in St. Peter’s Square. And five years yonder, when the Space Shuttle Challenger exploded just 73 seconds into its flight.

There have been countless other such moments we emotionally bookmark. But it is the dependable day-in-day-out certainty of its on-hour newscast – what we programmers call “a benchmark” – that we will miss most after Friday, when CBS News Radio ends. Among the stories they will cover that day: Stephen Colbert’s CBS “Late Show” finale the night before.

The CBS Radio Network would have turned 100 next year. It sent home the sounds of war, live from a rooftop: “This… is London,” reported by Edward R. Murrow, whose name adorns the news award broadcasters still strive for. His trademark sign-off “Good Night and Good Luck” titled a 2005 biopic directed by George Clooney, who starred in last year’s ambitious Broadway production (available on Netflix). The New York Times: “Clooney makes Edward R. Murrow a saint of sane journalism for a world that still needs one.”

“It’s no secret that the news business is changing radically, and that we need to change along with it,” is the CBS corporate spin. But neither supply nor demand failed. What failed is the supply chain, 1996 deregulation run-amok. And news/talk stations have borne the brunt of it. Depopulated of local talent and starved for promotion and other resources allocated to co-owned music stations now losing to streaming, too many talk stations became angry, non-local, one-sided political caricatures, too predictable to seem vital. Other stations, with diligent owners hellbent on Doing It Right, are all-the-more conspicuous. They will continue to succeed, even without precious CBS assets. But those stations are anomalies, now outnumbered by others in unattended operation mode, some of which could end up broadcasting dead air on-hour Saturday morning.

Holland Cooke (HollandCooke.com) is a consultant working the intersection of broadcasting and the Internet. Follow HC on Twitter @HollandCooke and connect on LinkedIn

Industry Views

When Your Voice Becomes the Product

By TALKERS | by TALKERS

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By Matthew B. Harrison  
TALKERS, VP/Associate Publisher
Harrison Legal Group, Senior Partner
Goodphone Communications, Executive Producer

imgFor years, Harrison Legal Group has informed media creators about the legal risks of using copyrighted clips, songs, images, and broadcasts without permission. The issue became central enough to inspire my book, Playing the Clip: The Definitive Digital Media Creator’s Guide to Fair Use (TALKERS Books, 2026). The premise was straightforward: modern media runs on borrowed material, but borrowing comes with legal exposure.

Now the fight is shifting toward something more personal.

The voice itself.

Not the recording. Not necessarily the script. The identity embedded in the sound.

That distinction is becoming increasingly important as AI voice systems improve to the point where listeners can recognize a performer even when the company insists it used a “different actor” or synthetic generation. The Scarlett Johansson dispute with OpenAI may become the defining example. Johansson alleged that OpenAI created a voice assistant that sounded “eerily similar” to her after she declined the company’s request to license her actual voice. OpenAI denied intentionally imitating her and stated the voice belonged to another actress but still paused what they branded the “Sky” voice after backlash intensified.

The case matters because it exposes a legal gray area many creators misunderstand.

A voice is generally not protected by copyright law in the same way a song recording is. But a recognizable voice may still trigger claims involving the right of publicity, false endorsement, unfair competition, or misappropriation of identity. In other words, the legal risk is often not “you copied audio.” The risk is “you exploited identity.”

That distinction matters for broadcasters, podcasters, advertisers, and AI companies experimenting with synthetic hosts, cloned announcers, or celebrity-style narration.

If listeners reasonably believe a celebrity endorsed, participated in, or authorized the content, the legal exposure changes dramatically.

Read more….

Another recent example involves Dua Lipa and Samsung. According to reports, Lipa alleges Samsung used her image on television packaging without authorization, creating the impression she endorsed the product. Samsung reportedly claims the image came from a third-party provider that assured the company all rights were cleared.

That defense may sound familiar to media professionals.

“We got it from somebody else.”

Legally, that is often not enough.

A broadcaster cannot avoid defamation liability merely because a guest made the statement. A publisher cannot automatically avoid infringement exposure because a freelancer supplied the material. And a company may not avoid publicity-rights claims simply because a vendor promised the paperwork existed.

The underlying legal theme is the same: delegation is not immunity.

The AI layer complicates things further because modern systems do not necessarily reproduce exact copies. Instead, they generate approximations that may still evoke a specific person strongly enough to create marketplace confusion.

Courts have dealt with similar issues before. Bette Midler and Tom Waits both successfully sued over soundalike performances used in advertising after declining to participate themselves. The principle is not new. AI simply makes imitation faster, cheaper, and easier to distribute.

That should concern media creators who assume these disputes only affect billion-dollar tech companies.

They do not.

A local station, podcast producer, YouTube creator, or advertiser can now generate celebrity-adjacent voices in seconds. The barrier to entry collapsed. The liability did not.

The safest question is no longer merely “Do we own the audio?”

It is: “Whose identity does this remind people of?”

That answer may determine whether the next lawsuit is really about technology at all.

Or simply old-fashioned commercial exploitation wearing futuristic clothing.

Get your copy of “Play the Clip: The Definitive Digital Media Creator’s Guide to Fair Use” by filling out the request form at HarrisonMediaLaw.com.

Matthew B. Harrison is a media and intellectual property attorney who advises radio hosts, content creators, and creative entrepreneurs. He has written extensively on fair use, AI law, and the future of digital rights. Reach him at Matthew@HarrisonLegalGroup.com or read more at TALKERS.com.