With the pending shutdown of CBS News Radio, we’re seeing a lot of reader interest in Radio World stories about other radio news services.
A Dallas-based AI startup called Riply now has rolled out a content platform to enable radio stations to deliver local news without traditional newsroom operations. Pricing starts at $198 per month.
The firm was founded and is led by former air personality and station executive Jen Austin, with seed funding from venture fund Alpine Consolidated. Austin has worked at Townsquare Media, Virtual News Center, Global 1 Media, Mountain Dog Media, iHeart, Baroka Broadcasting and others.
Riply gathers, structures and updates news from a proprietary network of curated sources. “It transforms fragmented community signals into broadcast-ready content, powered by technology with human editorial oversight,” the company says.
“Riply was built to restore access to local content, combining the speed and assistance of AI with human editorial judgment, so stations can deliver accurate, relevant news in real time.”
The user chooses the market and content type (news, sports, lifestyle or entertainment). Riply then uses source curation, data ingestion and AI-based structuring. It drafts a newscast script using AI in a station’s unique voice, delivered via RSS, FTP or API. Sources include wire services, government or official websites, and established national and local newsrooms.
“All outputs are reviewed by human editors, ensuring editorial quality while dramatically reducing the time required to research and produce timely news segments from local, state and national sources.”
Produced audio segments with human or AI voices are available.
According to its FAQ page, Riply does not independently verify facts beyond comparing multiple reputable sources. “However, every newscast goes through editorial review before delivery. If a story appears inconsistent across sources, it is flagged for human review or excluded. Stations can add their own preferred sources to supplement content to further customize their newscasts.”
The company says its approach is better than building in-house processes, using generic AI tools, or syndicating content from larger markets that don’t have local relevance.
Info: riplymedia.com.
[Related: “Worldwide News Network Set to Debut”]
