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Our Director of Digital, Tim Davis, was riveted to Apple’s big announcement yesterday.  Here’s his “take” on what is looking to be an exciting end of the year for technology, media, and audio. Some of the most anticipated tech news of the year focused on yesterday’s announcement of the iPhone 5 with its faster processor, […]

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There’s a thought permeating the world of traditional media that there are very few success stories for traditional brands that have made the turn to digital. As old and new media companies struggle at times to “monetize” their audiences, the thinking is that the value of old-line brands have diminished as consumers flock around modern-day phenomena like […]

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The news that troubled Best Buy has a new CEO who is heralded as a “turnaround specialist” comes as no shock.  The company is in a heap of trouble for many reasons – competition from brands like Amazon as well as corporate leadership that has at best been questionable. So Hubert Joly, a French executive, will […]

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So the big buzz in radio late last week was this rumor that Apple is moving to get into the streaming radio business.  Whether this happens with the release of the iPhone 5, it occurs later in the year, or never at all, shouldn’t change the game for traditional radio broadcasters. Here’s why… Pandora has clearly done […]

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Recently, we wrote a post about music discovery focused on a Nielsen 360 study that showed radio’s ongoing value to artist and song exposure. Many noted the finding that teens have gravitated to YouTube.  I saw this in my own home several years ago when I watched my son moving off of iTunes and banging away at YouTube […]

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We received many comments about Tuesday’s post – “Spineless Maggot” – that talked about the importance of DJs and station staffers stepping it up and providing more value to their stations.  A frequent topic in this blog is “indispensability,” a concept popularized by Seth Godin in Linchpin. Researcher, futurist, and radio vet John Parikhal submitted […]

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Clearly the highlight (or the low point) of last week’s Republican convention in Tampa was the appearance of Clint Eastwood prior to Governor Romney taking the stage for his big acceptance speech. Days after Eastwood’s improv routine with the chair, the Internet is still ablaze with opinions – in both directions – about the effectiveness of […]

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It’s not easy being Jay Leno these days. First, you know about the story where he took that salary reduction, along with the loss of many staffers. Next, other big name talk show hosts are taking shots at him.  Howard Stern has had a field day ridiculing Leno and his pay cut.  Calling him a […]

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All of us at Jacobs Media wish you a welcome respite from your labors this weekend, good times with family and friends, and the opportunity to recharge your batteries to get ready for the rest of the year. Pictured above is a segment of the famous Diego Rivera mural, The Detroit Industry, on display in […]

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Everyone is getting into the music game.  And I mean everyone. Recently, Hertz (yes, Hertz) announced a new “Movin’ With Music” initiative that will hope to differentiate their rental car service from all the others circling around the airport. Hertz already has a partnership with LiveNation, so it was a small step to create the […]

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The news that the film, Quadrophenia, is being released newly restored on Blu-ray and DVD today brought back some vivid memories of why being present is so important.  More on the film in a moment. As PDs and GMs are being spread all over clusters – and half of America – it is becoming more […]

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Every year Beloit College (Beloit, WI) puts together a compelling list that is often a reality check for those of us north of 40 years-old. Taking a look at their incoming freshmen (The Class of 2016), their team creates a list of things these young people – born in 1994 – think, believe, and experience […]

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At times in this blog, we have lamented the departures from day to day programming of some of the great PDs of the past few decades.  That is especially the case with Richard Sands, former program director of Live 105/San Francisco. When Jacobs Media was developing The Edge (yes, it’s still trademarked) in the late’80s/early ‘90s, […]

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As the PPM journey continues to elate, confuse, confound, and cause wonder about the state of radio measurement, we are increasingly seeing the power that just a handful of metered respondents can have on the impact of the ratings. This is an issue that I will gladly let Arbitron deal with among their clients, but […]

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Yesterday, we discussed Saga Communications’ decision to end ad insertion in its streams.  And that opens the door to a larger conversation and a bigger question: If we cannot monetize it, why are we still doing it? Of course, there are certain activities that radio stations should engage in that will never generate revenue – […]

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Finally, a broadcaster has stepped up and done what radio people have been talking about for a decade. In case you missed it, Saga Communication has dispatched their ad insertion streaming apparatus and is now simulcasting its terrestrial programming on its digital streams. Broadcasters have wrung their hands about this for years – for all […]

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First, it was rock and pop stars dying on the weekend. Then it was tornadoes. Now Mitt Romney chooses Saturday morning at 9am ET to announce his new running mate, Paul Ryan. For some reason, big news keeps happening on Saturday and Sunday when many media outlets are staffed with part-timers – or worse, automation […]

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Bruce Springsteen blew through Boston this week, another leg of his 2012 Wrecking Ball Tour.  And one of his biggest fans, Greater Media Boston programmer (WROR and WBOS), Ken West, was on hand and taking copious notes.  This morning, Ken brings us six lessons that on-air talent and personality shows could glean from observing The […]

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If about half of your company’s sales leads came from one key source, something tells me that you’d do everything you could to keep that financial reservoir happy and healthy.  When your best opportunity for exposure, sales, and word of mouth emanates from a single source, smart executives would most definitely laser focus on keeping that fire hose […]

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