National Radio Talent System™, a division of RAB, creates opportunities for new and emerging careers in media. It is an incubator of well-rounded, educated college students, or recent graduates who possess a passion for media and a determination to start their careers in the radio industry.

Total Number of Institutes

50

Max. Class Size

25

Total Students

782+

The Next Generation of Broadcasters

National Radio Talent System ™ is made up of multiple Radio Talent Institutes at colleges and universities throughout the United States. Each institute includes 35-40 broadcasting professionals from around the country as guest speakers and lectures who bring their real-world knowledge to this immersive six-day summer program. Speaker sessions include each radio discipline from on air, programming and music, podcasting, sports broadcasting, engineering, marketing and promotions, social media, video for radio, digital, and data and measurement. Each student attendee benefits from RAB's Radio Marketing Professional training and certification program which they they participate in as part of this unique program. Radio Talent Institute graduates are ready and prepared for today's radio workforce.

Image placeholder Confer Radio Talent Institute at Bloomsburg University, Pennsylvania
Image placeholder GAB Radio Talent Institute at Grady College/University of Georgia

In 2024, RAB produced three successful Radio Talent Institutes including GAB Radio Talent Institute at Grady College/University of Georgia and Confer Radio Talent Institute at Bloomsburg University, Pennsylvania.

An annual institute highlight includes 'Sports Day' where the students attend sports venues and get to meet and learn from sports broadcasters.

  • At GAB Radio Talent Institute students spent the day at Audacy's Atlanta facility and met with Atlanta Hawks play-by-play announcer Steve Holman and also heard from many of Atlanta's The Game/92.9 on-air talent, producers and managers.
  • At Confer Radio Talent Institute, students had a field trip to Philadelphia with on-site visits to two radio broadcasting groups - and toured both Beasley Media Group and Audacy's Philadelphia facilities. First they were on location at Beasley Media Group studios to meet with vice president/market manager Joe Bell, 97.5 The Fanatic program director Scott Masteller, and marketing and promotions directors Eric Simon and Todd DiFeo. At Audacy Philadelphia SVP/Market Manager David Yadgaroff welcomed the students, along with Sports Talk host Joe Giglio, as well as, Audacy Corporate EVP/Head of Programming Jeff Sottolano.

The Radio Talent Institutes are the campus-to-career connections and springboards for students to launch their broadcast careers. We heard positive feedback from this year's graduates with many remarking that networking and connection with industry professionals was a true highlight and differentiator than any other program or class they attended while in school.

Graduating institute students further their networking opportunities with access to the newly launched Career Center on NRTS' website where they can post their profiles, resumes, portfolios, and job interests. Broadcasters are invited to access the Career Center and it has truly become a recruiting opportunity with a number of students having been hired and already working in radio.

2024 Sizzle
RAB Students Scholars

For the tenth consecutive year in partnership with the Broadcast Education Association (BEA) RAB has underwritten the RAB Student Scholars Program for college undergraduate and graduate students.

This year 150 students attended the BEA2025 spring convention and NAB Show convention in Las Vegas. The program offers students an opportunity to meet with top executives in the radio industry and learn and explore a career in radio.

The following RAB members sponsored the 2024 RAB Student Scholars Program:

  • Alpha Media
  • Beasley Media Group
  • Bonneville International
  • Bustos Media
  • Connoisseur Media
  • Cox Media Group
  • Cumulus Media/Westwood One
  • El Dorado Broadcasters
  • Forcht Broadcasting
  • Hulvey Family
  • iHeartMedia
  • Katz Media Group
  • Mid-State Multimedia Group
  • Perry Publishing & Broadcasting
  • Salem Media Group
  • Seven Mountains Media
  • Skyview Networks
  • StateNets
  • The Cromwell Group, Inc.
  • Triton Digital
  • Zimmer Radio & Marketing Group