Leading Local Insights

Viewers don't think about whether they're watching broadcast or streaming. They just watch. Advertisers, though, still plan, buy and measure the two separately, and with budgets tight, they want proof of what ran, who saw it, and whether it worked.

In this episode of BIA's Leading Local Insights Podcast, BIA Managing Director Rick Ducey talks with Ann Hailer of Locality (formerly Gamut and Cox Reps), which connects national brands with local audiences across premium broadcast and streaming in every U.S. market.

Ann explains why the one-to-many vs. one-to-one gap between broadcast and CTV won't go away, but progress is happening like Nielsen's one-minute qualifier, Comscore's audience profiles, and ACR data that may finally show combined reach and frequency. Ann also shares how Locality uses Nielsen's Media Data Engine to deliver broadcast demo reporting within days, so linear campaigns can be adjusted mid-flight like streaming.

Listen as Rick and Ann dig into trusted data, explainable AI, and why automation still needs experienced people on both the buy and sell sides. Ann makes the case that local is where advertisers get real incrementality, because Detroit, Cincinnati and Miami all perform differently. View Video

Apple is now selling ads in Apple Maps, creating another potential competitor for local advertising dollars. But BIA’s Mike Boland sees an opportunity for local media companies to expand what they sell and reach audiences their current media mix may miss.

In this episode of BIA’s Leading Local Insights podcast, Mike and BIA’s Celine Matthiessen break down how Apple Maps ads work, why Apple is moving further into advertising, which local business categories stand to benefit, and how the offering compares with Google Maps. They also explore Apple’s agency and API programs, which give broadcasters, radio groups, publishers and digital agencies ways to add Apple Maps advertising to their offerings.

As local advertisers face more platforms and growing complexity, the opportunity is to help them navigate the choices. Apple Maps could give local media sellers another way to deliver that value. Listen now to hear what Apple Maps ads mean for your sales strategy and how you can turn this new opportunity into added value for local advertisers.

AI is changing how TV advertising is created, sold, and delivered. It’s opening new possibilities for ad products, personalization, and commerce. But Tracy Swedlow says many TV executives are missing a big part of the story: what’s happening on the creative side, and how quickly it’s moving.

In this episode of BIA’s Leading Local Insights Podcast, BIA Managing Director Rick Ducey talks with Tracy, who has covered TV, advertising, and emerging technology since launching ITVT in 1998. She sees a gap between the AI innovators in San Francisco and the traditional TV industry, along with a major opportunity to bring them together.

Tracy explains why AI on the big screen should help viewers discover content and navigate choices, not simply deliver more ads. She and Rick also discuss how AI could help localize and activate ad buys, and what these changes mean for local broadcasters and news.

The conversation also previews the 40th TV of Tomorrow (TVOT) show, December 2–3 in San Francisco’s Presidio, built around “TV + AI + Advertising.” Highlights include NBCUniversal’s Ryan McConville on AI-driven ad products, conversational AI on the big screen, and local sessions featuring leaders from iHeartMedia, Madhive, Gray Media, Magid, CBS News Bay Area and KQED. Rick Ducey will lead a panel on local cross-platform video featuring Madhive, iHeartMedia and JamLoop. Learn more at TVOTshow.com or ITVT.com/TVOT.

Consumer surveys sound gloomy, but wallets keep opening, and local advertising is following the money. In this episode, BIA analysts break down the latest local media spend forecast, what’s changing across markets and categories, and what it means for media leaders.

We closely look into where local ad dollars are going, which categories show the most promise, and why CTV/OTT is becoming a bigger part of the media mix. The conversation also covers how AI is changing search and local business visibility, why TV and digital sales teams need to work together, and how consultative selling can help turn market insights into new revenue.

Looking ahead to 2027, we discuss the outlook for core local ad growth and how media companies can spot opportunities and make smarter decisions in a changing market.

OpenAI’s ad business has reached a $1 billion annualized revenue rate after roughly 200 days, signaling that ChatGPT ads are moving quickly from experiment to ecosystem. In this Leading Local Insights Podcast episode, BIA’s Celine Matthiessen and Mike Boland explore what’s driving that growth, how ChatGPT’s advertising model is evolving, and what its global expansion could mean for advertisers and local businesses.

They also take a closer look at the ad experience, including sponsored recommendations, links and product carousels, along with the bigger questions around user trust, privacy, targeting and performance. 

Looking ahead, they discuss the potential impact of self-service advertising, lower spending requirements and third-party ad tech integrations, and what OpenAI will need to improve as it competes with established advertising platforms.

View the Video on Youtube

Local TV can feel like the safest bet for reach, until election season turns the ad break into a bidding war.
 
In this Leading Local Insights Podcast, joined by an exceptional panel of political experts, we explore political crowd-out — when political spending pushes local advertisers out of TV inventory — and what it means for pricing, availability and where those ad dollars go next. If you are planning around political advertising, broadcast inventory constraints, or local media strategy, this conversation is built for you.
 
We speak with Todd Wiseman, founder of Riptide Creative and Advertising and a columnist for TV News Check. With 25 years in media, Todd has managed more than 4,000 campaigns and generated over $500 million in advertising revenue. He shares a firsthand perspective on why local TV stations can feel like "ghost towns" during political cycles and what that means for local advertisers and sellers.
 
John Link, SVP of Data at AdImpact, puts the political spending surge into perspective, explaining how record-setting dollars can become highly concentrated in a small number of states and markets, creating very different inventory pressures from one market to the next.
 
From BIA, Senan Mele, VP of Forecasting, examines what BIA's data shows about the changing revenue mix during election years, including how core commercial TV revenue can decline even as non-political advertising spending grows across the broader local media market.
 
We also discuss the Supreme Court's NRSC v. FEC decision and its potential implications for coordinated political spending and demand for lowest-unit-rate inventory, and where displaced dollars can go, including CTV/OTT, digital video and social video. Then we punt around the question: when the political season ends, will those dollars return to traditional TV, or has the media mix changed for good?

Turning a QR code into qualified leads, first-party customer data, and advertiser renewals is easier said than done. In this episode, Josh Good, Manager of Marketing & Revenue Enablement at Megaphone TV, joins BIA's Mike Boland to discuss how interactive advertising is helping broadcasters transform traditional 30-second commercials into premium "interactive 30s" that generate measurable engagement and deliver stronger results for advertisers.

Josh explains how interactive formats—including polls, contests, user-generated content, and sweepstakes—can enhance broadcast TV, CTV, and digital campaigns while giving advertisers the first-party data and measurable outcomes they increasingly expect.

Using the HVAC industry as an example, Mike and Josh explore practical campaign ideas, seasonal strategies, and ways broadcasters can create more valuable advertising solutions, strengthen client relationships, and drive higher renewal rates through interactive advertising. 

What happens when your car becomes a media platform? As vehicles become increasingly connected, personalized, and AI-enabled, automakers are creating new opportunities to engage consumers long after they leave the dealership.

In this episode of BIA's Leading Local Insights Podcast, Rick Ducey sits down with connected vehicle expert Roger Lanctot, chairman and founder of Strategia Now Consulting, to explore how connected cars are evolving into media ecosystems. They discuss AI assistants, personalized in-car experiences, location-based advertising, and how the connected vehicle could transform audience engagement and advertising.

The conversation also examines what these changes mean for radio, local media, and the future of reaching consumers on the move.

Listen to discover why connected vehicles may become one of the most important emerging platforms for local media and advertising.

View Video Recording here. 

In the third installment of BIA’s AI podcast series, BIA’s Celine Matthiessen and media analyst Mike Boland unpack the biggest announcements from Google I/O 2026 and what they signal about the future of search, shopping, and discovery. As Google continues to reinvent search around AI, the conversation explores how intelligent agents, AI-powered shopping, and conversational experiences could reshape the way consumers find information and make decisions. 

Building on BIA’s recent discussions about AI advertising and conversational discovery, Celine and Mike examine what these changes could mean for advertisers, broadcasters, local businesses, and media sellers. They discuss the growing role of AI agents, the value of intent-driven interactions, and why understanding Google’s AI roadmap may be critical for staying visible and competitive as search continues to evolve.

This episode of BIA’s Leading Local Insights Podcast explores how conversational AI is reshaping search, discovery, and online visibility for brands, broadcasters, and media companies. BIA’s Celine Matthiessen and media analyst Mike Boland discuss the shift from traditional keyword search to AI-driven discovery, where consumers increasingly ask detailed questions and receive synthesized answers instead of scrolling through search results.

Following BIA’s recent podcast on AI advertising inside ChatGPT, they examine how conversational AI is transforming SEO, visibility, and content strategy through AI optimization (“AIO”), “zero-click” search behavior, and the growing importance of trusted local content, reviews, citations, and topical authority for broadcasters and media brands.

View the Video Podcast here.