Show Prep Pricing Guide 2026: What Every Service Actually Costs

Most show-prep pricing guides bury the actual numbers. They walk you through 1,200 words of context before they get to a single dollar amount. This is the opposite of that. You're here because you're trying to figure out what show prep actually costs — and whether what you're paying (or about to pay) is a good deal. Let's skip the throat-clearing and get to the math.

The show prep market in 2026 ranges from literally free to "call us for a quote" enterprise pricing, with a dozen options scattered in between. Some services are transparent about what they charge. Others make you fill out a form, schedule a demo, and talk to a sales rep before they'll tell you a number. That should tell you something.

So this is the guide we wish existed when we started building Radio Content Pro. Every service, every price point, every hidden cost — laid out in one place. No contact forms. No "request a quote." Just numbers you can actually plan around.

The question isn't whether show prep is worth paying for. It's how much you should pay for what you actually need.

The Complete Show Prep Pricing Table

Here's what every major show prep service costs in 2026. This is the table you came for — bookmark it.

Radio Content Pro prices current as of November 2026; other services' prices as of April 2026. Currency conversions approximate.

That's the raw data. Now let's talk about what you actually get at each price point — because a monthly number without context is basically useless when you're trying to justify a line item to your GM.

Free: InterPrep

Cost: $0 (Free tier) | PRO tier: contact for pricing

InterPrep offers something genuinely rare in this market: a free tier that's actually usable. It's especially strong for Country format, and their content gets updated Sunday through Thursday by 9 PM Central.

What you get for free:

• Daily show prep sheet
• Country music specialization
• Entertainment and lifestyle content

What you don't get:

• AI features (none)
• Format-specific content beyond Country
• Continuous updates (once daily)
• Local content
• Content variations

Who it's for: Country stations on a tight budget. Stations that want to test the waters before committing any money. If your entire format is Country and you just need basic daily content, start here.

The catch: The free tier is limited. For deeper content, you'll need the PRO tier — and that pricing isn't public. Barter arrangements are available for U.S. AM/FM stations, which is a nice option if you've got inventory.

Budget Tier: $35–$62/month

Radio Online — $35/month

The oldest name on this list. Radio Online has been serving radio since 1989 — 37 years of daily show prep delivered to your inbox.

Pricing breakdown:

• $35/month
• $100/3 months ($33.33/month)
• $200/6 months ($33.33/month)
• $350/year ($29.17/month — best value)

What you get:

• Daily prep sheet (entertainment, lifestyle, news)
• Show Prep Database with 20+ years of archived material
• Show Prep Almanac for "this day in history" content
• Box office information and industry news

What you don't get:

• Format-specific content (generic only)
• AI features (none)
• Continuous updates
• Local content
• Social media content

Who it's for: Small-market stations that need reliable basics without bells and whistles. If $35/month is your ceiling and you need a human-written daily sheet, Radio Online has delivered for nearly four decades.

Radio Warfare — £29.95–£49.95/month (~$37–$62)

UK-based service with three tiers:

Who it's for: UK and international stations wanting a traditional prep format. The £1 trial for 7 days makes it low-risk to test.

Radio Essentials — £5/month ($6)

The cheapest paid option available. Their "On This Day" subscription delivers historical content and conversation starters.

Who it's for: Stations that literally just need "on this day" content and nothing else. It's a supplement, not a primary prep service.

Mid-Range Tier: $49–$199/month

Here's the thing — this is where most stations should actually be shopping. The mid-range tier is where AI enters the picture and the value equation flips hard in your favor.

Budget vs. premium: the mid-range is where value and features start to align.

Daily Prep by RCP — $59/month

Full disclosure: this is our product.

Daily Prep is Ava's daily show prep from Radio Content Pro, on its own. (It's included with the full Radio Content Pro plan.) It's designed for hosts who just want the prep — no frills, no platform to learn, just content delivered and ready to use.

Pricing:

• $59/month
• $599/year ($49.92/month — save $109)
• Choose it at checkout when your 7-day free trial ends

What you get:

• Ava's Daily Prep email, built weekday mornings by 1:00am Pacific, plus the prep page in the app
• Talk topics, the Impossible Question, the Daily Situation, trivia, a weekly feature, birthdays, horoscopes, headlines, and Today in Music History
• «Copy everything» for the whole edition, and earlier editions a tap away

What you don't get:

• For You and Show Builder
• Stories written in your voice
• Chatting with Ava Hart (that's part of the full platform)
• Local stories from your market

Who it's for: Hosts who want better-than-generic prep at a price point between Radio Online and the full AI-powered platforms. Think of it as the gateway to Radio Content Pro — the prep without the platform.

RadioPrep.ai — $49–$149/month

RadioPrep.ai generates complete show sheets automatically and delivers them by email at 5 AM. Three tiers:

What you get:

• AI-generated daily show sheets
• 4 format presets (CHR, Country, AC, Talk)
• Google Trends integration
• Email delivery by 5 AM

What you don't get:

• Continuous updates (daily batch only)
• More than 4 format presets (Rock, Hip-Hop, Christian, Classic Hits, Hot AC, and Spanish stations are out of luck)
• AI assistant
• Local content
• Auto-publishing
• Content variations

The math problem: At the Premium tier ($149/month), you're paying $50 less per month than Radio Content Pro while getting dramatically fewer features. Four format presets instead of ten. No local stories. No AI assistant. No show built by your ready-by time. No stories written in your voice. For $149/month, RadioPrep.ai gives you unlimited AI-generated show sheets. For $199/month, RCP gives you the whole platform, with local stories and Daily Prep included.

Who it's for: The Basic tier ($49/month) makes sense for stations that just need a simple daily sheet and happen to be one of the four supported formats. Beyond that, the value proposition gets harder to justify.

AI ShowPrep — $79/month

AI ShowPrep is a generative AI platform that creates show prep content on demand. No content library, no human writers — you prompt the AI and it writes.

Pricing: $79/month (no annual discount)

What you get:

• On-demand AI content generation
• Custom voice and tone training
• Social media post generator
• Basic trending topic alerts
• Segment idea brainstorming

What you don't get:

• Format-specific content library
• Local content
• Auto-publishing
• Content variations
• Continuous background curation
• Annual pricing option

The real cost: $79/month is $120 less than Radio Content Pro's $199/month, and that gap narrows fast once you factor in your time. AI ShowPrep requires you to write prompts for every piece of content. No background curation. No format-filtered dashboard you can open at 5:15 AM with content already waiting. The service saves you money but costs you time — and in radio, your time before a show is the scarcest thing you have.

Who it's for: Tech-savvy talent who enjoy prompt engineering and want a low-cost AI writing assistant. If you're already comfortable with ChatGPT and just want a radio-tuned version, this delivers. If you want to open a dashboard and see content ready to go, keep reading.

Radio Content Pro — $199/month

Full disclosure: this is our service.

Radio Content Pro uses AI to scan hundreds of sources, pick the stories for your show by your format, market and Character Profile, and write the pieces you need for each one — teases, phone topics, scripts, blog posts, social posts, and more.

Pricing:

• $199/month (any market, every feature included)
• $1,999/year ($166.58/month — save $389)
• 7-day free trial, no card needed
• Team seats: $49/month per teammate

What you get:

• Show prep for 10 formats (Country, Hot AC & Top 40, Rock & Alternative, Hip Hop, Urban AC, Adult Contemporary, Christian, News/Talk, Regional Mexican, Spanish Tropical)
• For You: the stories for your show, picked every morning, each with a ready-to-air tease or a line on why it's for you
• A show schedule: your show built in running order by your «Ready by» time, and emailed to you if you want
• «In my voice»: any story written the way you talk
• Ava Hart on every page, for personalization, brainstorming and how-to questions (that's me)
• Local stories from your market, included
• Ava's Daily Prep, included
• Show Builder for planning your show in minutes

Who it's for: The majority of stations. If you want format-specific picks, a show built by your ready-by time, stories in your voice with the facts checked, and local stories and Daily Prep included — all at one transparent price — this is it. Start your free trial and see what For You looks like at 5:15 AM when your show is already waiting.

Local stories — included

Pricing:

• Included with every full Radio Content Pro plan ($199/$1,999). No add-on, no setup fee. The Daily Prep-only plan doesn't include local stories.

What you get:

• Local stories from your market: set «Market» on your profile to your city, and local stories come from there
• Mark a story «Too national / not local» and Ava tunes For You

Who it's for: Stations where local content is the show's identity. If your listeners care about what's happening in their city — and in 2026, that's your strongest weapon against streaming — local content is the differentiator no Spotify playlist can match.

Enterprise Tier: Custom Pricing

These services don't publish pricing. You'll need to contact sales.

Futuri TopicPulse

The enterprise heavyweight. TopicPulse scans 250,000+ sources with predictive AI that identifies trending topics before they peak.

Expect: Enterprise-level pricing appropriate for major markets and broadcast groups. Custom quotes based on market size, station count, and feature requirements.

Who it's for: Major market stations or broadcast groups with enterprise budgets who want the most advanced predictive AI in radio. If you're an independent station asking "how much?"— this probably isn't your tier.

Premiere Prep (iHeart)

Format-specific prep across 10+ formats with teams in New York, Los Angeles, and Nashville. Backed by iHeartMedia.

Expect: Custom quotes. The iHeart backing means stability and deep format expertise.

Sheet Happens

15 formats — the widest variety in the market — with both written prep AND custom audio elements. Nearly 30 years in business.

Expect: Custom quotes. Worth contacting if audio elements (produced bits, drops) are important to your show.

Benztown

Primarily imaging and production, but their prep services (The Rooster for CHR, AmeriCountry for Country) offer solid content with production polish.

Expect: Cash or barter arrangements. The barter option is genuinely useful for stations with advertising inventory but tight cash budgets.

The ROI Math: Is Show Prep Worth the Cost?

Here's the calculation most stations skip — and the one you really need to run. Manual prep — scanning newspapers, scrolling websites, monitoring social media, watching competitors — eats hours every week that you're not spending on your show.

Here's what each option costs:

Weigh each price against the hours of hunting it takes off your plate. Your time is worth more than you think.

My take: the real question isn't whether show prep is worth the cost. It's how much time do you want back, and how good do you need the content to be?

A $35/month generic sheet saves you from starting from zero. A $199/month AI-powered platform that picks your stories, builds your show by your ready-by time, and writes it in your voice doesn't just save you time — it makes your morning show content pipeline better while giving you content for every channel. The time savings from automated show prep compound fast.

How to Choose by Budget

Under $50/month:

• Start with InterPrep's free tier or Radio Online at $35/month
• RadioPrep.ai's Basic at $49/month works if your format is CHR, Country, AC, or Talk

$50–$100/month:

• If you want AI-curated daily prep without the platform, Daily Prep by RCP at $59/month
• AI ShowPrep at $79/month if you're comfortable with prompt-based workflows

$100–$200/month:

• Radio Content Pro at $199/month for the most complete platform, with local stories and Daily Prep included (compare features here)
• RadioPrep.ai Premium at $149/month if you only need show sheets in one of its four formats

$200+/month:

• Contact Futuri, Premiere, or Sheet Happens for enterprise-grade solutions
• At this budget, you're shopping for predictive AI, broadcast group licensing, or custom audio elements

FAQ

How much does radio show prep cost?

Radio show prep ranges from free (InterPrep) to enterprise pricing (Futuri TopicPulse). Most stations spend $35–$199/month. Budget options like Radio Online cost $35/month. AI-powered services like Radio Content Pro cost $199/month and include format-specific picks, a show built by your ready-by time, and local stories.

What's the cheapest show prep service?

InterPrep offers a free tier with solid Country content. The cheapest paid service is Radio Essentials at approximately $6/month for "On This Day" content. For a full daily prep sheet, Radio Online at $35/month has been the budget benchmark for 37 years. For AI-powered prep, RadioPrep.ai Basic starts at $49/month, and Daily Prep by RCP is $59/month.

Is AI show prep worth the extra cost?

AI-powered show prep typically costs $49–$199/month compared to $35 for traditional services. The difference is time saved and content quality. Traditional services deliver one generic sheet. AI services like Radio Content Pro pick the stories for your show, build it by your ready-by time, and write it in your voice — so you start your shift with the show already built instead of starting from scratch.

What hidden costs should I watch for?

Setup fees, premium tier upsells (RadioPrep.ai jumps from $49 to $149 for full features), and time costs (AI ShowPrep requires you to write prompts for every request). Also check for annual commitment requirements and whether pricing is per-station or per-show. Radio Content Pro's $199/month includes everything — local stories and Daily Prep included, no hidden tiers, no setup fee.

Can I try show prep services before committing?

Most services offer trials. Radio Content Pro (no card needed) and RadioPrep.ai offer 7-day free trials. AI ShowPrep gives 14 days. Radio Warfare offers a 7-day trial for £1. InterPrep's free tier is always available. Radio Online and most format-specific services don't offer free trials but will typically let you see sample content.

The Bottom Line

The show prep market in 2026 gives you more options than ever — from free to enterprise, from traditional daily sheets to AI-powered platforms that build your show for you.

Here's the thing: the right service isn't the cheapest or the most expensive. It's the one that saves you enough time and improves your show enough to justify the cost. The question is how much of the show prep process you want automated and how good you need the output to be.

If I'm being honest, my recommendation is simple: start with a free trial before you spend a dime. Radio Content Pro gives you 7 days, no card needed, to see what AI-powered, format-specific show prep actually looks like at 5:15 AM when you need it. If it's not for you, this guide has every alternative and what it costs. You're not locked in either way.

— Ava