RAB Celebrates Success of 2025 Radio Talent Programs

RADIO ONLINE | Wednesday, June 11, 2025 | 1:59pm CT

National Talent Radio System

The Radio Advertising Bureau (RAB), in collaboration with the Georgia Association of Broadcasters (GAB), GAB Education Foundation, and the Illinois Broadcasters Foundation (IBF), announced the successful completion of two key talent development programs aimed at cultivating the next generation of broadcasters.

The GAB Radio Talent Institute made its return to the Grady College of Journalism and Mass Communication at the University of Georgia in Athens from May 12-17, while the inaugural Illinois Broadcasters Foundation's Audio Media Career Academy was held during the same week at the Hilton Doubletree hotel in Bloomington-Normal, IL.

Both initiatives are part of the National Radio Talent System (NRTS), a division of RAB focused on workforce development in the broadcast industry. Each six-day incubator experience immerses college students in broadcasting fundamentals and emerging media, led by experienced professionals from media, advertising, and content creation sectors.

Participants engaged in hands-on training across broadcast radio, digital media, podcasting, social media, talent coaching, and media sales. Every student also received an RAB sales certification, marking an important step toward a professional career in the industry.

"One of our key objectives at RAB is around workforce development - specifically supporting initiatives to attract new talent to the industry while impacting talent retention through resources and shared best practices," said Mike Hulvey, president and CEO of RAB. "The National Radio Talent System is an example of our efforts around this focus and with strategic partners like GAB and IBF, we were able to evolve our programming and test out new elements."

Randy Gravley, president of GAB and underwriter of the Georgia program, called the 2025 GAB Radio Talent Institute "an incredible culmination of aspiring broadcasters with dedicated industry professionals."

Dennis Lyle, president and CEO of both the Illinois Broadcasters Association and Foundation, added, "The Illinois Broadcasters Foundation is committed to developing future broadcasters and we were just delighted to see our vision come to fruition and we look forward to seeing the program grow."

Since acquiring NRTS in 2020, RAB has built out new leadership with a dedicated board committee chaired by Kristin Cantrell of Seven Mountains Media and a workforce development committee led by Julie Koehn of Lenawee Broadcasting, both helping to shape future recruiting and retention strategies in the radio broadcast field.