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For me, the journey of music discovery took a wonderful and unpredictable turn last weekend at a packed Masonic Temple Theater in Detroit featuring a local star that you may have never heard of.  Sixto Rodriguez, who described himself on stage as an “ordinary legend,” finally captured his deserved super star status – at the age of […]

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The news that Yahoo is paying a reported $1.1 billion for Tumblr says a great deal about the differences in how broadcast and digital media executives view teens – otherwise known as Generation Z. For Yahoo’s Marissa Mayer, there’s a realization that in web circles, her brand is graying – rapidly.  While Yahoo was a hot, […]

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Last month, we showcased the Greater Media Philadelphia cluster which was named as one of the best workplaces in town by the Philadelphia Inquirer and Philly.com for the second consecutive year. Not to be outdone, I heard from a reader across the pond who told me about UKRD Group Ltd., named by The Sunday Times […]

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On last week’s investor call, Saga CEO Ed Christian gave a (as always) transparent view (as much as possible) of the state of radio – and his company.  Ed is famous for substantive analyses of the industry and where it’s headed.  He takes the issues head-on, and uses these calls to sound off about what’s […]

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Yesterday, we took a look at the importance of responding to consumers who visit radio’s social pages.  Far too often,  a cavalier attitude about listeners (“contest pigs”) has led to aloof, ambivalent, or even negligent policies in markets big and small. For all those request line calls that blinked away and went unanswered, for those letters and […]

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So now we know. One of the beauties of our Techsurveys is that they allow you to ask questions you just don’t have time for during the course of researching and managing your brand. That’s where Techsurvey9 comes into play – especially when it comes to critical areas from mobile to social – where getting […]

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“Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower.” – Steve Jobs Another Steve – Steve Case former head of AOL – sees the world of business as either attackers or defenders.  In his mind, it is essential for companies – especially smaller entrepreneurial businesses – to think proactively and innovatively: “…I realized the world of […]

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We see so much research these days that it’s easy to ignore those “so what?” headlines – like this one: “Americans Fed Up With Bad Ads” That’s the hook from a recent “Research Brief” from the Center for Media Research.  The study, conducted by InsightsOne with Harris Interactive, finds that 87% of Americans 18+are fed […]

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You’ve probably read Lori Lewis’ great weekly column in All Access called “Merge.”  She provides great insights into what’s happening with social and digital media in ways in which everyone in radio can learn something every week. A couple weeks back, her topic was A.J. Clemente, that infamous North Dakota TV anchorman who unwittingly dropped a […]

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Finally, warm weather throughout the Midwest and the East – and that could only mean one thing: We’re not far away from Conclave 2013 which is set to go on July 17-19 in Minneapolis. Our company has been involved with this Learning Conference for many years now, as our industry has gone through some seismic […]

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Since our Techsurveys expanded last year, our ability to explore formats has become one of the most popular dimensions of these studies, designed to help radio see around corners.  Our expressed goal since we started this research initiative nine years ago was to help the industry understand what listeners do when they’re not tuned into […]

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A recent article on CNBC’s website highlighted the coffee wars between Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, and McDonald’s and gave us a glimpse into some “corner office wisdom” each company’s corporate leadership. But what struck me in the story was Starbucks’ CEO Howard Schultz’s take on the competitive landscape, in addition to how he considers Starbucks a […]

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Recently, Lori Lewis tweeted out a Huffington Post piece from Craig Kanalley that will get you thinking: “10 Smart Quotes from ‘Innovation Uncensored’ Conference” Sponsored by Fast Company, the conference took place in New York City and it included an impressive array of luminaries and contemporary businesspeople. Click on the link above to peruse all these words of […]

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As big announcements in the tech world go, this will not go down in history as one of them. But the news that Detroit’s Ford Field – the home of the Detroit Lions – now has a new Verizon Wi-Fi system – should be of interest to football fans, technologists, and perhaps even sociologists. No, the […]

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You have to hand it to Netflix CEO Reed Hastings. While his company went through tough times, Netflix continued to do some amazing things.  The release model for House of Cards is a case in point. While we wait patiently for the next episode of Newsroom, Game of Thrones, or Homeland, Netflix released the entire debut […]

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Last month, the Rock family lost an important person in the history of the genre – and chances are, you never heard of him.  But you are sure familiar with his work. Strom Thorgerson, the guy who designed album covers like Dark Side of the Moon and other iconic LPs from Pink Floyd, 10cc, Zeppelin (Houses […]

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As radio looks back on the past four years of living in a world rapidly filling up with smartphones and apps, there are more questions than answers. Are listeners using our app? Can we monetize it? How important is the stream to our station’s success and how will it be measured? What other features can listeners […]

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This is nothing new.  It’s been going since the days of Eddie Fritts at the NAB Convention and at The Radio Show – the movers and shakers in radio get more accomplished in private meetings or in the lobby bar/restaurant at the “unofficial” hotel of corporate honchos.  In Las Vegas recently, it was the Encore.  In years […]

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Now that the Boston Marathon bombing story is ending up in the legal system, it is instructive to look back at the winners and losers in the media and technology race during last week’s big news story. There doesn’t seem to be any question in too many people’s minds that Twitter came out of this […]

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How often have you heard this comment in a focus group, a Listener Advisory Board panel, or simply from your neighbor, your spouse, or one of your kids: “Why do all the radio stations in town play their commercials at the same time?” Now back in the “Diary Days,” the reality is that this wasn’t […]

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