Ifeoluwa Oduwaiye
Apr 15, 2025
Automatic Speech Recognition (ASR) technology has seen a wide range of applications in industries from finance, to customer support, and now media & broadcasting. With the way speech technology has evolved over the past 10 years, we should be on about how we can apply this technology to further better the processes in media & broadcasting.
Traditional broadcasting methods have now given way to digital broadcasting platforms that are faster, more accessible, and can reach a global audience. Organizations like ESPN and CNN have now hopped on the trend and are integrating advanced speech technology to meet the demand for instant and accurate content delivery.
By leveraging ASR and AI-driven analytics, broadcasters can transcribe, analyze, and enhance speech data instantly. In this blog, we will explore speech analytics and how it pertains to the media and broadcasting industry, take a deep dive into some of the use cases of this technology, some benefits, and challenges, and wrap up with how Spitch can power your organization in building smarter media solutions.
Photo by Gabriel Avalos on Unsplash
What is Real-Time Speech Analytics?
Speech analytics can be seen as the application of analytics methods and techniques to extract insights from speech data such as sentiments, transcripts, and emotions. When it comes to media & broadcasting, only real-time or near-real-time systems can cut it. No one wants to be reading the caption 5 seconds after the broadcaster announced the news.
Real-time speech analytics refers to the process of converting spoken language into text using ASR and then applying various analytical techniques to extract actionable insights. This technology captures live audio streams and processes them in near real-time. Some key components of this system include transcription, live captioning, sentiment and tone analysis, and keyword extraction, all of which work together to transform raw audio into valuable insights.
In live environments, such as newsrooms and broadcasting centers, these tools enable instant decision-making and provide measurable performance data that can be used to optimize content delivery. With technologies like Spitch, the integration of real-time speech analytics into broadcasting workflows is becoming more seamless and cost-effective, unlocking new levels of operational efficiency and viewer engagement.
Photo by Catherine Breslin on Unsplash
Use Cases in Modern Broadcasting
In this section of the blog, we will be exploring some of the use cases in speech technology in media & broadcasting.
Live Captioning
This is one of the most significant use cases for real-time speech analytics in broadcasting. Live captioning involves the instantaneous transcription of speech during a live broadcast, which makes live news, sports, and other events accessible to audiences who are deaf or hard of hearing.
In research done by the National Association of the Deaf, it was discovered that engagement can increase by up to 20% among viewers with accessibility needs by providing live captions. Integrating real-time transcription into media & broadcasting systems can help create a more inclusive viewing experience, ensuring that no audience member is left behind, regardless of their hearing ability.
Interview Transcription
Automated transcription of interviews can be very crucial for media organizations that need to rapidly edit and distribute quality content. Journalists and content creators need to get breaking news out quickly, but writing interviews by hand takes a long time and can lead to mistakes. Advanced speech technology like ASR and speaker identification can automate the transcription of multi-speaker interviews.
You can explore building such a transcription solution yourself—check out our previous blog post on creating a transcription app with Spitch.
Multilingual Accessibility
In our increasingly global media landscape, it is now necessary to provide content in multiple languages. Real-time speech analytics enables broadcasters to offer multilingual support by translating and subtitling live audio content on the fly. This feature can help media and broadcasting firms to reach a broader, diverse audience.
Harnessing sophisticated multilingual AI is key, and you can learn more about integrating a multilingual solution in your media & broadcasting use case in our previous blog post on creating a multilingual AI assistant.
Speech Generation
Speech generation can be applied in virtual broadcast systems to convert text into speech with little or no human intervention. This use case also can be applied in content creation to build artificial-voice content. This technology is also used to create artificial voice content for video voiceovers and short social media stories.
Benefits for Media Organizations
Media & broadcasting firms have a lot to gain from integrating speech technology into their processes. Some of these gains are:
Enhanced Accessibility: Through live captioning and multilingual systems, firms can enhance the accessibility of their systems. These features make news and entertainment more accessible to a wider audience, including people with disabilities. Integrating these systems not only helps businesses meet their regulatory requirements but also helps them build a loyal and inclusive viewer base.
Improved Operational Efficiency and Cost Savings: Automating transcription processes reduces the need for manual data entry, cutting error rates and speeding up review and editing. In addition to an improved interview transcription system, firms can cut back on expenses by completely automating this process instead of relying on labor-intensive methods.
Enhanced Viewer Engagement and Customer Experience: With interactive features like live captions and multilingual support, businesses can foster a stronger connection between broadcasters and their audience. This level of proactive responsiveness to viewers’ needs is particularly critical in today’s fast-paced media environment.
Challenges & Considerations
The application of speech technology in the media & broadcasting industry is not without challenges. Some of these challenges are:
Accuracy Issues: Real-time speech technology often struggles with high accuracy, especially in environments with significant background noise. Variability in dialects and complex accents can further reduce transcription accuracy and negatively impact downstream processes like sentiment analysis and keyword detection.
High Computational Demand: Processing audio data in real-time for applications in live captioning and multilingual translation requires robust infrastructures and often relies on cloud-based solutions to handle large volumes of data with minimal latency. To build and integrate these solutions, organizations must invest in powerful hardware or scalable cloud resources to support these systems.
Data Privacy and Compliance: Audio processing systems must be carefully managed to protect user privacy, particularly under strict regulations such as GDPR, CCPA, and NDPR. Therefore, media and broadcasting firms must ensure that data is securely processed while still deriving actionable insights. This tends to be a complex challenge that demands advanced security measures.
How Spitch Can Help Build Smarter Media Solutions
Spitch is a language technology company focused on developing small language models for African languages. By applying our transcription, translation, and speech generation features, media & broadcasting firms can build real-time transcription, live captioning, speech generation, and multilingual systems that support low-resource African languages.
Right now, Spitch supports Yoruba, Igbo, Hausa, and English and can generate audio with 16 different voices. We plan to add more languages to reach a larger audience and include even more people. Spitch is an ideal partner for media professionals who want to harness the power of AI to innovate and streamline their operations.
Visit our developer portal and sign up to get your API key. We give every new user $1 worth of Spitch credits so they can try out our services. You can also check our user documentation and visit our YouTube channel for more support.
Conclusion
The rapid advancement of speech processing techniques, such as live transcription, multilingual support, and real-time sentiment analysis, redefines the way media content is produced, delivered, and consumed. With the pressures of increased accessibility, speed, and global reach, media organizations must adopt innovative solutions to stay competitive in a rapidly evolving landscape.
Gain the competitive edge with tools built for Africa's unique media environment. Spitch helps you streamline production, increase audience connection, and ensure full accessibility compliance. Choose the comprehensive, future-proof solution that enables smarter decisions and fuels your growth across Africa.
Explore innovative speech APIs on Spitch and experience firsthand how real-time speech analytics can revolutionize your media operations. Sign up today to get started.
