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If you ever spent time as a radio station programmer in the '70s, '80s, or '90s, one of the keys to ensuring a healthy cume was to make sure your frequency was pre-set on one of those five car radio buttons.  It was an obsession.  Because if your station occupied one of those buttons, it […]

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Yes, it's that time of year where all of us parents breathe a little sigh of relief that our offspring are headed back to the halls of wisdom for yet another academic year of learning.  Last week, President Obama acknowledged the need for students to take their education seriously this year, work a little harder, […]

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Have you noticed that NFL teams are beginning to act like radio stations that need to have a great fall book?  This difficult economic year signals more problems for sports franchises, even in the premier league in all sports – the NFL.  There's the news that as many as 20% of games this fall with […]

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In what has to be a surprising announcement out of Cupertino, Steve Jobs himself announced that the new iPod nano will include an FM radio tuner.  In addition, this new nano features a live pause feature as well as iTunes tagging.  Apple is putting its own imprimatur on FM radio – as you might expect.  […]

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The story about how the Walt Disney folks paid a whopping $4 billion for Marvel's franchise superheroes – Spider-Man, Iron Man, and the gang – caused many investment analysts to gasp.  Did Disney overpay for Marvel's assets, and because many upcoming movies from these comic icons are already owned by other studios, what was Disney's […]

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You've probably seen some or even most of the data in this video at one point or another.  But this video will be the best four minutes you spend all week. Click Here To See The Video Welcome to the rest of 2009.

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You've probably seen some or even most of the data in this video at one point or another.  But this video will be the best four minutes you spend all week. Click Here To See The Video Welcome to the rest of 2009.

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  JacoBlog will return on Tuesday, September 8. We wish you and your family a safe and enjoyable holiday!!

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We've talked a lot in this space about all you out of work radio folks – or as the NAB nicely refers to you as "free agents."  Hopefully, your fortunes will turn in this third half of the year, and you'll be among the employed once again. But today's post is dedicated to the hard-working […]

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As we approach 9-9-09, and another celebration of everything Beatles, it's a great time to kick back and think about exactly what an incredible phenomenon the Fab Four have become, 45-odd years after their debut here in the States.   Of course, when the British Invasion began, the Beatles were at the forefront, and Beatlemania swept […]

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As musicFIRST releases its "Radio Distortion Handbook," the NPD Group ironically reports that one-fourth of the music sold in the U.S. is now credited to iTunes.  And digital is catching up with CDs.  Overall, more than one-third of music sales are now in digital form, and projections indicate that by the end of 2010, it […]

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The story covered by Tom Taylor last week that consultant Walt Sabo and New Jersey 101 are parting ways is indeed an anomaly.  As Tom points out, consultants tend to hope that no one notices if they get dusted by a client, and just hope the story goes away.  But in 2009, the end of long-term […]

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While on a family vacation in Colorado a couple of weeks back, the weather was lousy, my 18 and 20 year-olds were getting bored, and we were looking for things to do. It occurred to me that we were only an hour from the famous Red Rocks concert venue, which I've seen on TV and […]

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It's interesting how a deep recession can change the conversation in the corporate boardroom.  As the economy continues to hit speed bumps, companies are finding new and different ways to innovate, make some noise, and attract some attention.  They're exploring new partnerships and alliances that never would have been considered during the cash cow days.  […]

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What do you do when you have a problem that's difficult and expensive to solve – even though all logic dictates that you must deal with it?   Simple – you turn lemons into lemonade.   That's what Arbitron has done with the cell-phone only issue.  From a problem with no solution five years ago to a […]

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Always thinking about revenue generation, our Paul Jacobs chimes in with his thought about how radio can get its sales mojo back.  No, this isn't an RAB pitch.  We've been inundated over the years with the same old data about how 250 million Americans listen to the radio every week, how radio reaches 92% of […]

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Need an excuse to register for the NAB's "Radio Show" next month? Hopefully, we have four good reasons for you to make the journey to lovely Philadelphia in late September.  As you may know, our Summit this year is embedded with the NAB's show.  We've got that great Thursday afternoon slot (1-5 p.m.), and have […]

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In a new "Programming To Win" piece I wrote for FMQB, the topic is all about the mobile phone revolution, and how the world is changing the way consumers entertain and inform themselves. Since we started our jacAPPS division last October, we are closing in on 1,000,000 downloads, and in the process, we've learned a […]

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In a new "Programming To Win" piece I wrote for FMQB, the topic is all about the mobile phone revolution, and how the world is changing the way consumers entertain and inform themselves. Since we started our jacAPPS division last October, we are closing in on 1,000,000 downloads, and in the process, we've learned a […]

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Last month, we talked about bands that are performing entire albums in concert, a new wrinkle for live music presentation.  Of course, as a band, you have to have released killer albums that can hold their own and the audience's attention, track for track. There aren't many albums released in the past 20 years that […]

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