A sound digital video strategy has become table stakes for radio sales teams over the last year. With every month that passes, digital video consumption reaches new highs as premium content continues shifting online—from UFC on Paramount in 2026 to the Oscars streaming on YouTube by 2029. Local businesses are attuned to these changes and […]
Read MoreYouTube Turns 21, and It Just Became Prime Time
YouTube was founded on Valentine’s Day 2005, which means it turns 21 next month. It hasn’t happened very often this century that a medium is launched and then truly hits its stride two decades later, but that’s exactly where YouTube is right now. Over the last few years, Nielsen’s The Gauge report has shown YouTube’s steady climb […]
Read MoreObservations From CES 2026: Day One
Yesterday was the actual first full day at CES 2026—and it was impressive for its exhibits, its innovations, and its enthusiastic crowds. Your intrepid reporters—Paul Jacobs, Chris Brunt, and Quu’s Steve Newberry fanned out all over this show’s massive Las Vegas footprint to give you a taste of what’s going on here and how it may impact broadcast radio in the next five years—or at the rate things are going, the next five months. We hope you enjoy today’s “blogcast.”
Read MoreUpskilling You and Your Team for the New Year
Seven weeks ago, the Jacobs Media and jacapps teams combined forces to create a series of webinars for broadcasters to provide a pre-flight checklist of sorts for their sales efforts to reach new heights with digital revenue in the upcoming year. The response was especially strong, with hundreds of attendees and thousands of views from […]
Read MoreProgrammatic, Automated Advertising for Broadcast?
Two weeks ago, iHeartMedia’s PR team announced that the radio giant’s digital audio impressions will now be available through Amazon DSP (not to be confused with Amazon’s Delivery Service Partner program—completely different). Amazon DSP is a robust, programmatic ad platform that has been rapidly gaining ground in the programmatic space, posting 24% growth this year. So iHeart extending […]
Read More5 Hard Truths in Ad Sales and How to Deal with Them
The crew at Jacobs Media and jacapps are gearing up for a new series of free webinars designed to help broadcasters set their 2026 digital revenue strategies. You can sign for them here. These sessions will offer practical, real-world tips to help both AEs and managers tackle what should be an annual rite of passage at stations […]
Read MoreHigh-ROI Ads, Dynamic Sponsorships & AI Shakeups
There’s been a slew of news relevant to broadcasters about digital revenue, AI, and the convergence of the two. Let’s get up to date: DIGITAL REVENUE Strategy Wired Magazine Finds Success By Turning Journalists Into Influencers Here’s a successful model of a trad-media company turning its experienced staffers into influencers. Since their initiative, Wired has seen their […]
Read MoreKeeping Our Clients Safe from AI Slop
As excited as I am about the potential of AI, tech headlines this week are important reminders of the value of having real, boots-on-the-ground professionals at our stations who create authentic content that resonates with audiences and advertisers. These were cautionary tales about AI-Gone-Wild. The Current newsletter warned that “YouTube’s AI slop problem might be too big to […]
Read MoreInspiration from Influencers
The influencer economy continues to surge and is projected to hit $33 billion this year, a 35% increase over 2024. If those numbers alone don’t illustrate the impact influencer marketing is having on traditional media, consider this: Rolling Stone just released its list of the Top 25 Influencers, and Unilever announced that half of its media spend will now go to influencer marketing. […]
Read MoreCable’s Demise
It’s been a busy week at Jacobs and jacapps HQ as we gear up for some big September projects (more on that soon). While we’re in prep mode, here are a few headlines worth your attention: Streaming Video Continues Its Creeping Domination Nielsen’s monthly TV report, The Gauge, shows that in July streaming continued its steady […]
Read MoreBooms and Busts in Digital Advertising
The stock market’s outlook has been mostly cloudy for media and marketing companies for some time. While you can check the trades or your favorite business app for this week’s Q2 reports from the radio companies, one major player in radio sellers’ digital business flew under the radar: The Trade Desk. The Trade Desk (TTD) […]
Read MoreEverything Everywhere All at Once
As traditional media audiences fragment under the assault of new digital platforms, consider this hypothetical: If you could, would you license your station(s) to stream on Spotify, SiriusXM, or even Netflix? That’s not just a thought exercise—it’s essentially what’s happening with broadcast TV in France right now. Television ad revenue has fallen by $900 million […]
Read More44% of Advertisers Think THIS Really Works
I spent my formative years in the radio industry observing broadcast publishers, panelists, and prognosticators bemoaning the industry’s inability to pull an advertising share that equalled its listenership. It was always the redheaded stepchild to print and TV. There was always an excuse: “Seniors bring the newspaper ad to the dealer when they buy a car,” […]
Read MoreAre We Using the Same Terminology As Our Clients?
Old habits are hard to break, especially when they’ve led to career success and financial reward. But the rules of the game have changed. Just as MLB pitchers had to adjust to a pitch clock in 2023 (and will soon have to adapt to robo-umps calling balls and strikes) sales teams and underwriting reps must […]
Read MoreThe Power of the Algorithm
In 2025, a fitting update to Timothy Leary’s 1966 call to action might be: “Turn on, log in, scroll up.” Despite Silicon Valley’s narrative that social media empowers us to be part of the action, most Americans are content to let the algorithm take the wheel. We let the influencers influence and the creators create. […]
Read MoreTech Companies Compete With Self-Service Tools
As digital pure-plays continue to remove friction from the ad-buying process for small businesses, it becomes even more critical for us to not only lean into the strong relationships our sellers have with current clients, but also to streamline our sales process to make it faster, more flexible, and higher-quality than what’s being offered by Silicon […]
Read MoreAre We Past Peak SEM?
I’ve got a problem in my front yard. There’s a spot under a tree that gets zero sunlight. So last weekend, instead of researching Reddit, Wirecutter, or Consumer Reports for the best grass seed, I took a different route. I went to the closest hardware store, grabbed all three types of full-shade seed they had, snapped a […]
Read MoreShifts + Opportunities in 2025 Borrell Report
Borrell Associates just released its 2025 Annual Local Digital Media Benchmarking Report. The 23rd edition shows many perils for traditional media companies, but it also suggests opportunities for business development – not only in digital, but also for traditional advertising. While local digital media spend has crossed the $100 billion mark and will continue grow dramatically, traditional […]
Read MoreHere’s Why Everyone’s Bullish on OTT/CTV
The growth of OTT/CTV video advertising in recent years has been nothing short of explosive. Industry forecasts project that ad spending in this category will reach approximately $434 billion by 2027, double what was spent just three years ago. While initially dominated by Fortune 500 brands and major agencies, much of the recent growth is […]
Read MoreEvolution
When we launched The AI EDGE Newsletter in February 2024, our goal was simple: to provide insight and perspective on the rapidly evolving world of technology and artificial intelligence and its impact on broadcasters, especially at the station level. At the time, AI was still largely a mystery and, for many, a source of concern. AI DJs […]
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