Dial #250 Expands Beyond iHeartMedia Stations

RADIO ONLINE | Monday, October 12, 2026 | 3:28pm CT

Dial #250

MDR Group LLC has announced that its Dial #250 mobile speed-dial service is now available to all radio broadcasters and advertisers following the expiration of a decade-long exclusive arrangement with iHeartMedia. The company says it is already expanding relationships with Audacy, Cumulus Media, Bonneville International and other radio groups.

For more than 10 years, the service operated exclusively on iHeartMedia stations, supporting national advertising campaigns through Premiere Networks and local campaigns in markets nationwide. With that restriction lifted, radio stations, networks and advertisers can now use the service for local and national campaigns.

Dial #250 allows listeners to respond to radio commercials by dialing #250 on their mobile phones and speaking an advertiser's name, slogan or keyword. The service connects callers directly to the advertiser's designated phone number or sends a text message containing a campaign-specific link.

"Radio has always had an attribution problem, because 'you can't click on a radio ad,'" said MDR Group Chief Marketing Officer Dave Robinett. He noted that listeners, particularly those in vehicles, often cannot remember lengthy telephone numbers or website addresses mentioned in commercials.

The company has also introduced Voice AI technology that allows callers to identify advertisers without remembering their names. Listeners can describe a commercial or the product or service being promoted, and the AI system attempts to identify the advertiser and complete the connection.

"Radio's biggest leak has never been the listener who didn't care. It's the listener who cared but couldn't remember the details," Robinett said. "Voice AI closes that gap. If they remember what the ad was about, we can get them to the brand."

MDR Group says the platform also provides advertising attribution data by assigning unique spoken keywords to individual campaigns, stations, markets or creative executions. This allows broadcasters to document listener responses and provide advertisers with measurable campaign results.

Among the national direct-response advertisers using #250 are Chapter Medicare, BetterHelp, Pure Talk and Preborn. The service has also been used by Salem Media, Liberty University, Food For The Poor and Amazing Facts for fundraising, ministry outreach and sponsor response campaigns.

A new station-focused offering allows broadcasters to establish a single keyword using their call letters or station branding. Listeners who miss an advertiser's contact information can dial #250, identify the station and describe the commercial they heard. An AI agent then attempts to connect them with the appropriate advertiser by telephone or text message.

The company says the approach creates potential new revenue opportunities while helping stations demonstrate advertising effectiveness. As an example, MDR Group cited a Michigan-based home services radio program that uses one #250 keyword to route callers to 51 service providers across three designated market areas.

Pricing is based on a flat monthly fee per spoken keyword, with unlimited-keyword arrangements available for stations and groups. The service can also support listener engagement applications, including contests, call-in lines, traffic reports and fundraising.

Additional information is available here.