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 […]
Read MorejacoBLOG
Our founder, Fred Jacobs, discusses the issues facing broadcasters today.
Out of Sight is….Um…What again?
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 […]
Read MoreBlackBuried
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 […]
Read MoreiTurntable
When jacAPPS’ Operation Manager, Bryan Steckler, showed me this video, he had to know it would hit all my favorite “food groups.” In this case, music, “old school radio,” buzzworthiness, and of course, mobile phones. We often lament the lack of innovation in our business, so this ingenious idea stands out as the polar opposite. […]
Read MoreI Guarantee It
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 […]
Read MoreOne Person At A Time
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 […]
Read MoreDon’t Rip The Knob Off
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 […]
Read MoreShake It Up
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 […]
Read MoreWhy Gen Y
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 […]
Read MoreStupid DJ Tricks
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 […]
Read MoreAll Access
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 […]
Read MoreWho’s In Control?
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 […]
Read MoreCh-ch-ch-changes
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, […]
Read MoreNow Firing
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 […]
Read MoreWhat, Me Worry?
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 […]
Read MoreWelcome to Detroit!
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 […]
Read MorePhone Wars
So you think radio is a competitive business? Apple is in a war with Samsung, and it’s a bloody one. Sure, it’s about volume (in radio parlance, ratings), but it’s even more about the cool factor. And in that dimension, Apple has a challenge on its hands with the Galaxy S4 handsets. This is a […]
Read MoreRev Rev Revenue
On the heels of Paul’s excellent post yesterday about mobile revenue – specifically from the local angle – comes today’s entry about media ad spending. Last week, Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers’ killer analyst, Mary Meeker, presented her always amazing Internet Trends 2013 report. It’s 117 of the most remarkable slides you’ll see that synopsizes what’s […]
Read MoreThe Day the Music Dies
We’ve all been there. You wake up one day – or 5 o’clock rolls around – and it turns out that one of your competitors has changed formats. And now they’re coming right at you. They’re playing your music, with your value proposition, and your liners. And they’re commercial-free so even your core fans will […]
Read MoreHey, Pandora: Welcome To Our World
Users have probably felt it for some time. Now it’s been confirmed: Pandora has been sneaking in more commercial units. This will sound familiar because it’s been a broadcast radio tactic since Marconi…or Mel Karmazin. Station sales staffs have consistently worked at the margins to squeeze in as many spots in as possible, flirting with […]
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