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If you’re in radio, you might want to send a gift basket (a nice bottle of wine will do) to your friends in Cupertino this month.   They’re celebrating a big birthday. That’s right – we’re talking Apple.  Because first the iPhone, and then the App Store (celebrating its fifth birthday) may go down as the greatest things to […]

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In much the same way that Major League Baseball uses the All-Star Game as a natural break point between the first and second half of its long season, all of us in the media business can do the same thing coming off our own July 4th holiday break. And in that spirit, I’ve thought a […]

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You’re probably thinking that the holiday isn’t even here yet, and I’m already slacking by turning over the blog to a guest writer – two days in a row.  Actually, we seem to have a New Jersey theme this week, as you’ll read in a moment. Bill Jacobs has been consulting stations for our company for […]

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Earlier this year I bumped into Wayne Campbell and Kurt Hahn from Filmhouse at a convention.  If you’ve never heard of Filmhouse, chances are you’re somewhat new to radio.  That’s because it wasn’t that long ago that it was standard operation procedure for many stations to head into the spring and fall books armed with a TV […]

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The “big news” story on Friday was all about BlackBerry, and how parent company RIM missed their earnings projection.  This sent their stock tumbling 28% in what CNN Money referred to as “a surprise loss.” Surprise loss?  To whom? It was certainly no surprise, especially to stations that participated in this year’s Techsurvey9 – or […]

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It’s that inevitable moment where a business or a brand realizes that perhaps it’s stayed a bit too long at the dance. Last week, the board of Men’s Wearhouse offed spokeperson and company founder George Zimmer in a scene right out of Game of Thrones – minus the blood. For Zimmer, he was the long-time […]

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The more we read about “big data” (now an official term in the Oxford English Dictionary, by the way), the more it seduces us into thinking about scalability, efficiency, algorithms, and megatrends when it comes to winning over customers. But the reality is that while it is possible to amass thousands or even millions of […]

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There aren’t a whole lot of physical knobs and buttons on most of the “digital dashboards” rolling off the assembly lines these days.  But as the automakers grapple with finding ways to improve the user interface in their infotainment systems, we may see and hear more and more old school radio terms and gadgetry. But […]

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You have to hand it Bob Lefsetz.  His “Lefsetz Letter,” frequently devoted to stories and topics about music, never fails to stimulate.  Bob always puts his emotional view of the industry front and center, inviting you to think and engage with his opinions. The other day, JacoBLOG reader Mike Anthony brought one of Bob’s recent […]

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We can throw the 93% number around all we like, but the bottom line is that radio listening levels vary depending on the group you’re looking at. In a recent series of posts, we’ve talked about the concerning radio problem centering on lost youth – specifically, the notion that the medium has lost a generation of listeners over the […]

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The news that “Mayhem In The Morning” was given the ax by Lincoln Financial’s 790 The Zone/Atlanta wasn’t really news.  And the story really isn’t about whether they should have been suspended, fired, or disciplined. What makes this disaster “news” is that it keeps happening.  Again and again. In case you missed it, this morning […]

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Radio stations throughout the land have all been fighting a war of attrition these past few years: shrinking marketing budgets. Now if we were a bunch of Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises, we’d be in trouble.  But because we’re radio stations – brands that consumers still are passionate about – we have alternatives, and pretty good […]

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These are the times that truly test some of the core tenets of the media business, and radio is at the epicenter of the debate. Specifically, the issue of control. Who controls the music you hear?  Who selects it?  Who filters it?  And how can the music experience get better at a time when it’s […]

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It seems like every week, we’re treated to more and more news that our once-predictable, stable, media world is changing yet again.  And fast. Consider that this past week there were more “breaking news” stories coming out of the radio industry trades than on CNN.  (And it appears that the radio coverage was more accurate, […]

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Don’t think for a moment that talk and chatter don’t lead to perceptions. In radio, the talk for the past few weeks (few years?) has been about layoffs in highly visible radio companies. And while cutbacks are still only rumored, smaller employee counts have become the norm in radio.  And it continues to be a part […]

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The long-awaited announcement that Apple is now officially playing radio – called iTunes Radio (italics mine) – simply reinforces what has long been happening in the pure-play space: Everyone’s trying to recast, redefine, and reinvent radio – except most radio broadcasters. Pandora’s response to Apple’s new baby sounded a lot like Mad’s goofy poster boy, Alfred […]

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Last week in a suburb of Detroit – Novi, to be exact – Telematics Update held their annual conference, bringing together a growing group of automotive and media professionals to discuss the ongoing hot topic – “the connected car.” Nearly 2,000 professionals made the trip to Metro Detroit.  For Paul and me, it was a […]

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