iHeart’s New Pledge: ‘Guaranteed Human’

• Given the current “Wild West” state of AI as it has seeped into numerous aspects of our everyday life, including broadcasting, iHeartMedia has taken the bold step of loudly differentiating itself from its competitors. This new edict was carefully laid out in a companywide memo from Chief Programming Officer Tom Poleman, shared with RAMP, which states:

“A few weeks ago, I shared that iHeart is one of the last truly human entertainment sources and our listeners come to us for companionship, connection, and authenticity — something AI can’t replicate. We’re Guaranteed Human. We don’t use AI-generated personalities. We don’t play AI music that features synthetic vocalists pretending to be human. And the podcasts we publish are also Guaranteed Human.

Thank you for leaning into our commitment to keep everything we do real and authentic. That’s what makes us special.  And now we’e taking it a step further.

Starting Monday, 11/24, we’re making ‘Guaranteed Human’ a core part of our brand. You’ll hear it in our imaging, and we want listeners to feel it every time they tune in. Here’s how:

Hourly Legal IDs:

We’re changing hourly legal IDs beginning Monday to say: ‘(Station call letters/name), (city of license) an iHeartRadio station… Guaranteed Human’ (with the iHeartRadio audio signature heartbeat).

These will run every hour on our stations.

Sweepers

To augment our legal IDs, we also want you to create fun, nonchalant sweepers that fit your station’s vibe and reinforce that we’re Guaranteed Human. Sweepers should end with the words ‘Guaranteed Human.’ Drop them in every hour, between songs or talk content where it feels natural. Many stations will also start these on Monday, with others ramping up in the following weeks.

Remember, this isn’t a tagline  — it’s a promise. And it’s part of every station’s personality. When listeners interact with us, they know they’re connecting with real voices, real stories, and real emotion. That’s our superpower.

A little about why this matters so much; research says:

• 70% of consumers say they use AI as a tool, yet 90% want their media to be from real humans.

• 92% use social media, but 2/3 say it makes them feel worse and more disconnected.

• 92% say nothing can replace human connection — up from 76% in 2016.

• 9 in 10 say human trust can’t be replicated with AI.

To be clear, we do encourage the use of AI powered productivity and distribution tools that help scale our business operations – such as scheduling, audience insights, data analysis, workflow automation, show prep, editing and organization.  Those tools help us reach more people efficiently, while preserving the human creativity and authenticity that define our brand.  

We talk to our listeners constantly, and they tell us they are also using AI as a tool, but they tell us there’s a limit:

• 3/4 expect AI will complicate their lives in the next year and beyond.

• 82% are worried about the impact AI will have on society.

• 2/3 are worried about losing their jobs to AI.

• And, funny enough, 2/3 even fear that AI could someday go to war with humans.

The bottom line is our research tells us that 96% of consumers think ‘Guaranteed Human’ content is appealing. So, we’re leaning in.

Thank you for keeping it real and making ‘Guaranteed Human’ something that our audience hears and feels every day.

Sometimes you have to pick a side — we’re on the side of humans.

Tom