Radio Fórmula and D-ID: A case study

Revolutionizing Media Engagement

Name: Radio Fórmula

Industry: Media & Broadcasting

Company Size (No. of employees): Over 500

Company Mission & Vision: Radio Fórmula aims to be the go-to source for high-quality news and entertainment for the Mexican audience. As a part of Grupo Fórmula, which has a rich 90-year legacy in media, the company is committed to innovation and excellence.

Products/Services: Radio Fórmula offers a wide range of services including radio broadcasting, video streaming, online news, podcasts, and entertainment shows.

Target Audiences: Mexican population, aged 25-44, who have a keen interest in news, politics, and talk shows.

Embracing Digital Transformation

Radio Fórmula recognized the need to evolve in the digital age and increase the amount of content on its new video-streaming platform. In Q1 of 2023, the organization decided to answer both challenges with the introduction of digital news presenters, becoming the first news company in Latin America to do so.

Radio Fórmula explored various options in the text-to-video market and found that  D-ID’s Creative Reality™ studio was the best solution, enabling the company to create original characters with the appearance it desired to best match its target audience’s preferences, at the scale and cost they needed to meet their goals.

Introducing Digital Newscasters

Radio Fórmula proceeded to create three AI-generated newscasters, Nat, Sofi, and Max, which are used to deliver daily news flashes and analysis segments. The virtual anchors deliver scripts written by Radio Formula’s team of journalists and producers, augmented with B-roll video and text graphics. In addition to their appearances on the video streaming channel, the segments are repurposed for Radio Formula’s social media accounts.

A secondary use of D-ID’s technology was for employee onboarding and training. Radio Fórmula produced videos featuring digital people to help the HR department introduce new staff members to the channel, its history, and its work practices.

Widespread Acceptance

The immediate impact of this collaboration was a month-on-month increase in viewership. This was especially significant among the younger audience segment who traditionally have stopped consuming news content. Despite some early trepidation around introducing digital people into the company over fears of job displacement and integration challenges, the workforce embraced their new AI colleagues, with developers and producers appreciating the ease with which they were integrated into their workflow and the realization that the overall increase in content lead to higher demand for employees in supporting positions.

Expanding Reach and Exploring New Opportunities

Looking ahead, Radio Fórmula expects to see a further increase in viewer engagement and is optimistic about expanding its reach into new digital platforms, including creating a conversational AI version of the presenters to interact face-to-face with visitors on their digital platforms. Additionally, the company is exploring the possibility of producing similar AI-generated content for interested commercial parties.