If AI was really that smart, surely it should know by now it needs to spell out Listnr like SCA does every other time when it’s a real person! 
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Yeah, it must be a very low-end AI solution for it to consistently sound this robotic. There are much better AIs they could have used, here is a voice clip using the same dialogue I generated on the Eleven Labs free demo page - not perfect but sounds much more human like (even has the little breaths before sentences!!)
Willing to bet that they still just plug the word “listener” into their voice AI anyway because they know that actually writing Listnr will totally botch the audio
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So compared to the discussion over the lack of weather reports on ABC Local in regional Tasmania recently, it’s better than nothing.
You’d think you could just pre-record the various component parts and assemble it, rather than trying to use text to speech (it’s really not “AI”, the tech has been around for half a century now), if you do that well it can sound quite good, and worst case at least you can pronounce all the cities right.
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That would almost sound more robotic like train announcements.
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Not too bad actually. ACE have done this for a while (although mainly just for the current temperature). The “talent” records each phrase as a whole, rather than individual words. Then the only spacing it in between phrases which isn’t too noticeable if there’s not many joined together. The key to making it sounds good it to not give too much detail to minimise the combinations.
Train stations announcements are done the same way. The reason they sound robotic is because it’s deliberate. They go for the robotic style of voice because it commands attention and makes it sound like the systems are working (which is all well and good until there are problems).
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More robotic than Sydney Metro announcements?
Gawd I hate those poor quality robotic voices by both Sydney Metro & Sydney Ferries.
Took me several listens to decipher a part of the Sydney Ferries announcements years ago.
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Grant Goldman (RIP) will always be the voice of Sydney trains in my mind.
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Dear god, was half waiting for it to tell me my call was important to them
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I have a rather strange question: can someone list the Super Radio Network stations in NSW by population my friends? I.e. from the one that served the biggest population, 2SM in Sydney, to the station that serve the least populated part of the state. Judging from the list that I found on Wikipedia, I’m sure that they can cover much more than what ARN and SCA can even do - I mean, almost all of the inhabited part of NSW can hear at least one SRN station (!) (this is what make me really wonder and dream, my friends). They also have presence in NT’s second-largest settlement and small bit of Queensland too.
Here is the list of Super Radio Network markets across NSW in order of population.
| Market | Super Network Station/s | Population (2021 Census) |
|---|---|---|
| Sydney | 2SM | 4,744,579 |
| Newcastle | 2HD, New FM | 643,507 |
| Murwillumbah | Radio 97 | 254,724 |
| Lismore | 2LM, ZZZ FM | 156,497 |
| Kempsey | Radio 531/93.5 | 134,779 |
| Coffs Harbour | 2HC | 89,151 |
| Taree | 2RE, Max 107.3 | 80,901 |
| Orange | Radio 2EL 1089am | 77,609 |
| Tamworth | 2TM, FM 92.9 | 72,037 |
| Dubbo | 2DU, Zoo FM | 71,646 |
| Grafton | 2GF, FM 104.7 | 56,105 |
| Bathurst | 2BS, B-Rock | 54,425 |
| Young | 2LF, Roccy FM | 43,773 |
| Gunnedah | 2MO, Triple G | 36,650 |
| Armidale | 2AD, FM 100.3 | 36,058 |
| Moree | 2VM, Now FM | 35,332 |
| Inverell | 2NZ, Gem FM | 32,517 |
| Parkes | 2PK, The Rok | 29,672 |
| Mudgee | 2MG, Real FM | 22,597 |
| Broken Hill | 2BH, Hill FM | 17,788 |
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If the Queensland markets for the Super Radio Network were included Toowoomba/Warwick RA1 would sit at No. 4 just below Murwillumbah with about 234k and Gympie RA1 would sit almost level with Lismore at 153k. Noting the Gympie licence area includes the northern portion of the Sunshine Coast.
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You could add the 3 Sydney DAB stations, Gorilla, Dance and Fun to that list.
Also, Radio 97 covers the Gold Coast on 104.1 (approx 700,000 people).
Isn’t that Toowoomba/Warwick fourth-largest market in QLD? Or I’m I missing something?
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Yes that would probably be right, after Brisbane, Gold Coast, Sunshine Coast.
The only one that might come close is Townsville.
Actually just checked and yes Toowoomba is 234k and Townsville is 232k so very close. Then Rockhampton (inc. Gladstone) at 193k.
https://www.acma.gov.au/section-30-schedule-licence-area
Update sorry forgot Ipswich at 303k. That would be number 4 officially, although over 200k of that is overlapped with Brisbane.
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not so related, but does The Breeze has presence “anywhere” in Queensland except Brisbane? They do have presence in QLD’s 2nd biggest market for some time now and the reception is very positive (from what I read on Mediaspy before)
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The Gold Coast has Breeze as a local station plus recently added to Wide Bay as two large population centres. Breeze and Rebel received across both.
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Mostly in smaller population areas of Qld and northern NSW.
https://thebreeze.com.au/stations/
The biggest population centres outside Brisbane/Logan/Gold Coast would be Wide Bay and Biloela I would say. Stanthorpe is also part of the Toowoomba/Warwick licence area although not a big population.
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they obviously can win “big” in sunshine coast since this is the largest settlement in the Sunshine Coast region…
They aren’t available at local station level on the Sunshine Coast, any reception would be difficult for most listeners. Wide Bay is significantly north - 2 markets away.
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