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On the eve of what could be a momentous launch of digital gadgetry – the release of the Apple iPad - I received the strangest email from Amazon regarding my Kindle.  It invited me to spend anywhere between $84.99- $119.99 on a sleek Kindle cover by Cole Haan. I'll tell you what – the coolest cover […]

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Some of you may be tired of hearing about Pandora in this blog, but I have a feeling that given its trajectory, I'm not going to be the only one expressing concern.  And as you'll see in the upcoming release of Jacobs Media's Tech Poll VI, your core listeners have discovered Pandora, allowing it to […]

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There is no shortage of articles and think pieces on the Internet about why Google has been successful – and what other organizations and businesses can learn from their ascendancy.  I have aggregated a few of these thoughts as they apply to our industry.    It is interesting to note that Google wasn't first.  We were […]

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There is no shortage of articles and think pieces on the Internet about why Google has been successful – and what other organizations and businesses can learn from their ascendancy.  I have aggregated a few of these thoughts as they apply to our industry.    It is interesting to note that Google wasn't first.  We were […]

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Barnes & Noble's controversial decision to appoint the head of their web division, William Lynch, to CEO of the entire company was surprising and bold. And it should be a message to the executive staffs of broadcasting and newspaper companies about the changing tides of the media business. Barnes & Noble has been getting its […]

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Yesterday, we took a look at how radio's robust spotloads may be conspiring to hurt the medium as the mobile Internet becomes ubiquitous.  But in the Internet world, we have seen the demands for web advertising, which has put pressure on traditional media.  Broadcast radio salespeople have a tough putt on their hands, as more and more advertisers […]

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Recently Sean Ross boldly took on the topic of radio commercial loads in his "Ross on Radio" column.  Sean's point was that given the proliferation and popularity of sites like Pandora and Slacker, consumers are making those inevitable comparisons.  And the results aren't very pretty. As Sean put it, "…Slacker and Pandora will never have […]

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Here we are, in the middle of March Madness, and there are certain things you can count on: upsets, untimely injuries, broken brackets, and …social networking. In an interesting strategic move, Georgia Tech coach Paul Hewitt asked his team to give up their cell phones for the NCAA tournament.  The idea is that these devices […]

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Last week, I had the privilege of speaking at the Oklahoma Association of Broadcasters conference on behalf of old client and friend, Vance Harrison, the president of this group.  I always enjoy these get-togethers because while we're all racing to help connect the new and old media dots, these conferences are reminders of why most […]

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Over the past couple of days, we've talked about this whole concept of local, and how radio stations should be focusing their efforts and resources in a changing media environment. If you're buying what I'm selling, you have hopefully reached the conclusion that local market radio stations need to be victorious in the battle they […]

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In yesterday’s post, we began a discussion about the value of radio stations focusing budget and personnel on the local space, especially given the preponderance of global media competition. The local question is mitigated by the reality that so many local market radio stations are shadows of their former selves, ravaged by the impact of […]

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One of the joys of writing a blog is that there is no shortage of opportunity to weigh in on the burning issues of the day.  Or to occasionally be a little frivolous and light-hearted, particularly in contrast to some of the difficulties and challenges the many media professionals are facing. But today, it's a […]

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You hear this all the time: "We do all these cool things on our website but we just can't seem to monetize them." There are two key elements in play: having great digital content and developing and training a staff that can create and market it to advertisers.  We know from every article about where […]

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While conducting some focus groups last month, a number of respondents talked about a local station that had surveyed its listeners a number of years ago.  This station actually published some of the key findings of this study on its website, and then made the suggested changes on the air.  And it was effective.  These respondents gave […]

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I'll bet you sometimes get into debates with friends and co-workers about just how hot or popular a TV show, a video game, or a celebrity may be at any point in time.  We all have a sense of buzz from our "anecdotal research" – what we read, who we talk to, and what we […]

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A topic that is frequently discussed in online blogs and the many emails about technology we receive every day revolves around the role of the employee in today's media companies.  That was why the story that Bob Feder broke last week involving Randy Michaels' memo about the "119 dirty words" that WGN Radio news staffers […]

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I was privileged last week to be on the “radio stimulus panel” at the Canadian Music Week conference in Toronto, a passionately attended event, now in its 28th year.  Organizer Neill Dixon puts this mega-event together every year, and it is truly a global media and music conference. If you saw the “radio stimulus czar” […]

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Oxymorons that you just have to love: Taped live Definite maybe Soft rock New Hendrix CD

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As more and more markets become part of the PPM measured world, we continue to grapple with the impact of the methodology on radio formats.  Clearly, there are many morning personalities getting less sleep, not to mention radio pros who have labored away in Smooth Jazz formats over the past many years only to find […]

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No, not the band.  In this post, we're talking about some of the gadgets and utilities that may be replaced by mobile gadgets. We've watched our smartphone apps division, jacAPPS, grow by leaps and bounds.  As I write today's post, we have now designed and launched more than 140 apps that have now generated more […]

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