What Media Needs to Adopt by 2027

AI is already making media production and advertising sales more efficient, content more targeted, and audience engagement more dynamic. Broadcasters that are prepared can easily end up with a competitive edge by adopting AI strategically. Smaller, more nimble competitors who adopt AI will have the opportunity to emerge and take advertising spending away from larger media brands.

There are two things we are certain about:

1. Adoption of AI will be essential to remain competitive in audience and revenue growth.
2. The broadcasters who are best at developmental direct business will be the more profitable, resilient companies. And AI can help with this.

The Changing Media Landscape

A generative AI content surge is coming over the next three years, and with it comes more competition for advertising dollars.

We all can expect that by 2027:

• The media industry will be larger with more media companies than ever before.
• The biggest media companies will be the platforms: YouTube, TikTok, IG, Oculus/Meta’s VR, and Spotify.
• Traditional broadcast brands will be smaller relative to today’s reach and revenue.

In a world where every conceivable niche, quirky hobby, and obscure interest is supported by a mountain of videos, articles, podcasts, and other media—and where AI can create content quickly or even instantly—direct developmental business will be the edge for successful local operators to remain profitable and competitive in a more democratized playing field.

The Importance of Direct Developmental Business

As more non-traditional media brands are created, advertising opportunities will become more commoditized. Traditional broadcast brands should differentiate themselves by working directly with clients to craft and offer customized solutions that target the right local customers. With the right resources, this will be a breeze. Stations will be equipped with a deeper understanding of their clients’ needs and preferences, and able to develop more effective partnerships. In a crowded market, it’s these personalized offers and person-to-person interactions that will foster long-term partnerships and repeat business.

AI Tools Are How We Will Thrive

“There’s only two types of companies in this world. Those who are great at AI and everybody else. If you don’t know AI, you are going to fail.” – Mark Cuban

Like we said earlier, it can sound ominous. Add that to the fact that our current industry seems to be shrinking. You hear the constant news of staff cuts and unmet revenue goals, so it is hard to feel optimistic about the future of broadcasting. This is all the more reason why we, as an industry, need to embrace AI technology, in the right way, to remain competitive in 2027.

Incorporating AI-powered tools designed specifically for broadcast brands will mean your teams have more time to do what they do best – build and enhance relationships with local businesses and audiences. The AI will help reduce repetitive tasks and streamline operations, like pulling research and designing presentations … But because AI has a machine learning function built in, it can dive deep into personality profiles and local business and audience trends to help you stand out with your clients. Your sales team could focus more on closing deals by using their time to build stronger relationships with AI-powered software developed just for them.

Accelerating the Sales Process with AI for Sales – We Can Help

TopLine, our software solution created for media sales teams, allows your sellers to expedite sales conversations and wow prospects with customized visuals. It increases your sales team’s efficiency by maximizing the research data you’re already paying for. It gives your account execs AI-generated profiles of prospects and ready-to-present custom sales presentations – all the resources they need to secure appointments with new prospects faster and present a compelling, data-driven story to close the deal.

TopLine reduces the repetitive processes that eat up your sales team’s valuable time, which helps shift their focus to building deeper relationships with clients and presenting valuable solutions that set your station apart from the increasing number of other advertising options available.

Our TopLine users tell us they’re excited about the time savings and quality results:

• A 15-year transactional-focused media seller in a top 10 market has gained confidence in working on developmental business using the tools that TopLine provides. They said, “[TopLine] is just great. It pulls from multiple sources, so I think the credibility is so much higher with clients…The presentations are top-notch. It’s exactly how we would put it together. We’re proud to present it. We don’t have to make edits to it.”
• A marketing consultant with a TV station in a Top 100 Market recently closed a $339,000 new business win in the entertainment category. She credited the win to TopLine’s data insights on local consumer spending habits, how their audience aligned with the client’s audience, and the multichannel sales perspective. All this relevant data was delivered in a professionally designed sales presentation deck generated by TopLine.

Your 2027 Future-Proof Solution

Over the next three years, a media brand’s direct developmental business will be crucial to its success. But faced with shrinking production and research staff, and increased pressure for operational efficiencies, media brands will need to embrace technology to help offload repetitive tasks so they can focus more on turning relationships into long-term partnerships. Let TopLine help. It’s your key to unlocking more direct developmental business and keeping it during this major industry evolution.

Are you ready?