Waymark

Fox TV Stations wants to help even the smallest local advertiser make an appearance on TV. The Fox Corp. division, which includes 29 stations, has struck a deal with Waymark, a technology firm that uses AI to help local and regional advertisers that might not have the expertise to make video commercials create some for TV.

Advertising — specifically television, cable, broadcast, CTV, radio, and print — is being quietly reshaped by AI. The most interesting thing about this transformation is that it’s not just about technology; it’s about people, local businesses, and communities. The high costs and logistical complexity involved in advertising on channels like television have, until recently, made them unattainable for small businesses. AI has quietly stepped in to rewrite this narrative — in a very significant way. 

Morgan Murphy Nedua is rolling out Waymark IP across all its TV and radio stations nationally after a pilot program, allowing the creation of AI-generated ads in minutes.

At this year’s NAB Show, while some of the focus on artificial intelligence could be attributed to mainstream buzz over new generative AI tools like OpenAI’s ChatGPT, broadcast vendors have been working on AI-based products for several years to tackle the more labor-intensive parts of the broadcast workflow. Pictured: Adobe’s text-based editing, in which the audio in news feeds is automatically transcribed upon ingest and displayed in a transcription window to the left of the editing interface.

Gray is rolling out Waymark’s tech across all its stations, letting them create video ads in five minutes or less.

Local TV sales teams can call on a business and show them a polished spec spot that takes just five minutes to make. “It’s translating into more clients and more revenue,” says Rye Addis, the general sales manager at KOAM Pittsburg, Kan.