Meet the AI tools already writing your promos, singing your jingles, voicing your contests, and scheduling your posts without ever asking for PTO.
It Started with a Cloned Voice
When we created AI Ashley two years ago at KBFF in Portland, the broadcast industry was so busy overthinking what they were hearing that they weren’t seeing where they were going.
While the AI was getting roasted for not knowing how to pronounce “Willamette” (P.S. neither can many of you reading this right now), some broadcasters missed the point entirely. We weren’t opening a door to more “voice tricking” we were ripping the shutters off departments that had been kept in the dark for too long.
AI isn’t just here to talk pretty. It’s here to do the heavy lifting where humans have been stretched thin or straight-up left out.
Fast forward to now:
- The imaging guy is using bots to build sweepers.
- The social team is feeding promo copy into caption machines.
- And someone in sales just said, “I’ve sent out 20 spec spots today alone!” (alone both figuratively and literally).
Welcome to the age of AI interns: 24/7 overachievers who never sleep, don’t need coaching, and definitely aren’t driving the Z Rock Shaggin’ Wagon back to the station after one too many at a bar remote (or so I heard this guy Bill Phecker was doing in 1994).
From newsrooms to jingles, voiceovers to sound design, logo generation to sizzle reels this guide breaks down the AI tools already sneaking their way onto the airwaves (kind of like Bill Phecker sneaking CDs out of the prize closet…allegedly).
Audio & Voice Tools
ElevenLabs
Scary-good voice cloning of your talent, or the perfect stand-in for the times when you need the sound of a mortified CEO caught cheating on the Kiss Cam at a Coldplay concert. Want a stadium gasp or the sound of receiving divorce papers, type it in. It’ll generate both the VO and the sound effect.
Wondercraft
Want to turn your blog into a podcast without recording a word? Drop your script into Wondercraft and it’ll voice and produce the whole thing in seconds. Wait a second… why am I not doing this for Phil-Osophy? I could let the AI handle the podcast while I go rage-type my way through that HBO Max → Max → HBO Max rebrand mess. You see where this is going.
(New episodes of Phil-Osophy drop regularly—stream it wherever you get your podcasts or listen here.)
Suno
Create sung jingles, parody songs, and custom tracks in seconds. Perfect for station IDs, morning show themes, or when your PD demands “sonic branding” without knowing what it means.
Fish Audio
Need a Morgan Freeman impersonation for your Earth Day promo? Want SpongeBob to read the keywords for a trip to Universal Studios? Need a believable Donald Trump voice to sell gold-plated steaks? Fish Audio has you covered with over 200,000 voices—until the FCC makes you say “portions of this program may have been generated using AI.”
That day is coming. And honestly, you should already be telling your audience because it’s the right thing to do (and also because Morgan Freeman probably didn’t actually say your liner… unless he suddenly started voicing weekends on K-BEAR in Anchorage and nobody told me).
I Need Lots of Logos (Because Logos = Ratings)
ChatGPT 4.0
You’re a rock station that just hired Butthole and Washcloth in the Morning.
The only problem—outside of that horrible name—is you need:
- A logo.
- A van wrap.
- Show merch.
- A music festival setup.
… and you need it by Monday.
No sweat. ChatGPT 4.0 can whip that up faster than legal can get you their employment agreements. Time to get that van wrapped so it can sit in the parking lot 300 days a year because – let’s be honest – Butthole doesn’t do remotes and Washcloth’s legs are too short to reach the pedals.
Imaging & Listener Testimonials: Hype That Sounds Human
Now, your listener drops don’t have to be Molly from the sales department saying “I love this station, it picks me up and makes me feel good!” Fake listeners—Real emotion.
ReelWorld AI Create
Type the testimonial, pull from AI-generated scripts, pick the vibe, even add ambient noise. Your drop will blend perfectly with the ones you recorded at the fairgrounds 13 years ago that are due for a refresh.
Post Like a Pro: AI Tools for Social Media
Still posting photos of an empty tent with a prize wheel and registration box, next to a 2002 Econoline van? Let these tools help:
Ocoya
AI copywriting, graphic generation, and scheduling all in one dashboard.
Riverside.fm
Record high-quality 4K video and crisp studio audio from your laptop, even with trash Wi-Fi. Separate tracks, AI tools, and instant clips. It’s like having a producer in your pocket (which may or may not violate HR policy).
Higgsfield’s UGC Builder
Upload your face. Pick your vibe. Then let the AI handle switching camera angles, adding voiceover, product shots, music, transitions, and more. No editing required. You’ll end up with something way more compelling than the “Five O’Clock” funnies.
Ads in an Instant: AI for Commercial Production
Need a spec spot before the meeting, or just want to look busy while you’re secretly deep in Facebook Marketplace bidding on a stack of ‘90s CDs from some guy in Oregon that are all labeled “For Promotional Use Only”?
SpotOn (Futuri)
Script, voice, music, mix, dub, done
SPECai (Compass Media)
Create commercials in front of your client. Instant flex.
ElevenLabs (again)
Clone your client’s voice so they can “voice” the spot without ever stepping into the station. Using Voice-to-Speech, you can have a pro read the script with perfect delivery, then swap in the client’s cloned voice keeping the pro’s tone and inflection intact. No need for re-records, reschedules, or studio parking validation.
So What’s Next? (Besides a Robot Asking for a Key Card)
The AI toolbox for media is getting shockingly good. And, yes, it’s putting a lot of em dashes in our memos. (That’s this thing — and you’re about to see a lot more of them.)
AI isn’t just here to write “Hope you’re well” in every email, it isn’t here to cut corners, it’s here to cut chains.
It’s not here to replace the humans who make the magic, it’s here to remove what gets in their way:
- The storyteller who makes your audience feel something? Now they can go deeper, richer, bolder without drowning in busywork.
- The designer who turns Canva into cinema? Now they can create from a coffee shop in Lisbon, or the prize closet in Lubbock.
- Your production person gets to craft commercials instead of just cutting them.
More brilliance from the people you hired for their brilliance.
More resources. More memorable. More you.
–Bill Phecker