Tuned In: How an AI Assistant Gave Local Radio Teams their Time Back.

The teams at Clare FM AND Tipp FM were struggling with something every radio station knows too well: time. Writing scripts took almost an hour. Prospecting swallowed three days a week.The work was piling up and creativity was getting squeezed. Clare FM and Tipp Fm were presented with a unqiue opportunity to take part in a three week training programme where the sales and marketing team tested out a custom AI assistant built specifically for radio. The programme was delivered and facilitated by Joanne Sweeney from the Digital Training Institute.  The results honestly surprised everyone involved. Almost the entire team set up their own assistant using ChatGPT Plus and the feedback was overwhelmingly positive. People described it as refreshingly brillant and genuinely helpful in their day to day work. Some even said they finally felt like they had time to get back out meeting clients again.

What the AI Assistant Did

The AI assistant was trained to understand radio work. Scripts, proposals, competition concepts and communications drafts were created in minutes.The biggest takeaway was the amount of time it saved. Team members got back half a day to a full day every week.That meant less time stuck at a desk writing scripts or proposals and more time actually talking to clients and closing deals. One person put it perfectly when the said they "Finally had a full day back to get out on the road and sell". One person even used it to recover overdue payments because the AI made their messages more clear and professional.

Real Changes the Team Saw

The results showed up almost immediately. Scriptwriting became quicker and more creative with multiple versions offered to clients instead of just one. Proposals were produced on the same day using voice notes recorded right after client meetings. This made the stations feel more responsive and professional. Some team members even recorded voice notes after client meetings and had polished proposals ready before they even got back to the station. Clients responded well to the faster turnaround. One sales rep even said they got a full day back every week which meant more time spent with clients.

Learning What Worked

There were a few challenges at the beginning, some of the the early scripts sounded a little too national and not local enough. But the fix was easy, once the team learned to give clearer prompts and share examples of their own style the assistant quickly adapted. Using Retrievel-Augmented Genration (RAG)  which lets the AI pull information from uploaded station documents made outputs far more local and consistent. It meant the assistant could match the station voice, follow the usual proposal style and include real audience data instead of relying on generic guesses. When the assistant had real examples from the station's own work everything felt more natural and on brand.

The Numbers That Matter

By the end of the pilot the numbers spoke for themselves. Scriptwriting time was cut almost in half. Proposal writing time was cut by 50%.Competition mechanics and post campaign reports were cut by more than half. Admin taks were reduced to minutes. Each week everyone gained 2-4 days a month back for client meetings, creativity and sales.

What Happens Next

Because the pilot was so succesful, the next step is rolling this out across the whole station. This includes adding RAG documents like past proposals and brand guidelines creating Canva templates, building a prompt library and having weekly check ins to share what works.The goal is simple make workflows faster, deliver better campaigns and keep Clare FM and Tipp FM moving ahead.

What started as a small pilot is now turning into a new way of working and it is already making a real difference.