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Chances are good you saw that story from Forbes last week, strongly showing consumer demand for and usage of the AM/FM radio platform in cars and trucks. Broadcast radio, a platform? AM/FM radio is a legitimate platform, and according to Forbes contributor Christopher Versace, a new IPSOS survey shows that it’s the dominant choice in cars.  Overall, their study […]

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It seems like every couple of days, there’s a story in the radio trades or a host of other publications about how the “connected car” is the hot new thing, the death of radio, unsafe at any speed, and the beginning of the end for personal driving. It’s part of the reasons why the last two […]

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Lori Lewis sent another amazingly helpful memo to Jacobs clients earlier this week about strategically using Twitter analytics to measure the performance of tweets – and a station or personality’s social strategy. My fear is that very few managers will take the time to put it into use. And that points to a larger gap […]

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These days at Jacobs Media, we’re all busily preparing slides and charts to present first to 200+ stakeholder stations – and then to conventions and conferences, starting with the Worldwide Radio Summit later this month in L.A.  But what we’re really working hard on is looking at the data to find stories that help better explain […]

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Welcome to Opening Day for 28 of the 30 Major League Baseball today (barring rain or snow-outs). (Actually, the Cards and Cubs had their debut last nigh, and true to form, there was no joy in Wrigley Field as the home team lost its first game in the Joe Maddon Era.) That “Opening Day” spirit […]

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Welcome to Opening Day for 28 of the 30 Major League Baseball today (barring rain or snow-outs). (Actually, the Cards and Cubs had their debut last nigh, and true to form, there was no joy in Wrigley Field as the home team lost its first game in the Joe Maddon Era.) That “Opening Day” spirit […]

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It is truly a media oddity how the podcasting platform – once the domain of geeks – is now emerging as a media player after years of flying below the radar.  And yet for so many content creators, podcasts are very much a conundrum. Norm Pattiz’s Podcast One has taken a leadership position in on-demand audio, and […]

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It is truly a media oddity how the podcasting platform – once the domain of geeks – is now emerging as a media player after years of flying below the radar.  And yet for so many content creators, podcasts are very much a conundrum. Norm Pattiz’s Podcast One has taken a leadership position in on-demand audio, and […]

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A recent New York Times story about sports and journalism is packed with lessons for everyone in traditional media. It’s a cautionary tale about the growing value of real-time, the power of digital, and the ability for anyone and everyone to now have access and to even become a media mogul. Former Yankee superstar and shoo-in Hall of […]

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Perhaps you’ve seen these billboards in your hometown or while on vacation. The “Shot on iPhone 6” campaign is another smart effort by Apple to remind us of an amazing feature of their flagship smartphone. Adweek tells us that Apple has amassed 77 photographers in 70 cities in 24 countries around the globe to launch […]

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I’m sitting at a Tigers vs. Marlins exhibition baseball game earlier this month, and after the Tigers made three easy outs in a row (this was a disturbing pattern, by the way), I couldn’t help but notice that straight out in centerfield was a digital clock – almost like an egg timer – counting down […]

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Back in the early ‘80s when I was programming WRIF in Detroit, there were no computer scheduling systems. There were no computers!  That meant that the songs I okayed for air were typed on 5×7 cards, colorized by category, placed in a box with dividers, and played according to a music sequence that I devised. […]

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A one-size-fits-all strategy in a media world of customized choices and expanded options just isn’t viable anymore.  And media captains and content creators are learning those lessons on the digital highway.  As the great philosopher Sly Stone once noted, “Different strokes for different folks.” Every generation is different. And that’s a fact that marketers continue […]

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The news was unmistakably good for Rock, Classic Rock, and Alternative stations last week. On the more mature side of the music spectrum, it turns out that even younger guys are gravitating to the music their parents grew up with. Luxury labels are getting more attuned to Rock as a gateway branding drug.  And as March Madness […]

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Mercifully, Starbucks’ ill-fated “Race Together” message on their cups promotion ended yesterday, drawing a close to an intensely uncomfortable moment not just for the mega coffee company, but also many social media brands. In case you somehow missed it because you were ruminating over your losing brackets last week, Starbucks’ altruistic CEO, Howard Schultz, stretched the boundaries […]

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We talk a lot about the value of radio focusing on the local heartbeat. And in a great feature on This American Life, host Ira Glass exposes city-themed songs for being similar to generic jingle packages that are localized for dozens of different markets. In “No Place Like Home,” Glass talks to Ken, a long-time […]

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Earlier this week, we looked into the role that design, variety, and customization are playing in our consumer lives.  Successful brands understand the potential and the power of cross-promotion, and they work hard to optimize it. On the other hand, radio programmers know the frustration of having a great personality show that is reticent to promote […]

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