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To the many who enjoy social networking sites, our own Keith Cunningham would like to tell you about one particular "radio unemployed" person who is using social networking and the Internet to his advantage during these tough economic times. The incredible data on social networking from Tech Poll V leaves no doubt about the importance for […]

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Last week, I had the pleasure to participate in a panel discussion with Greater Media Chairman/CEO, Peter Smyth, Kay Olin, the President of Local Focus Radio, and chaired by Marcia McBride, former Chief of Staff to FCC Commissioner Michael Powell, at the Media Financial Management conference in Atlanta.  It was a great opportunity to talk about how radio […]

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We're all looking for indications that it's getting better, whether it's real estate sales in our market or pacing reports at our stations. That's why the news that Larry Wilson bought a couple of radio stations in Portland, OR last week struck me as significant given the turmoil that the radio broadcasting industry is in.  […]

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A recent interview in The New York Times with Zurich Financial Services CEO, Jim Schiro, revealed his interesting corporate philosophy that is obviously a work in progress. Schiro has canceled his company's midyear meeting (where they used to fly in 400 employees), and now provides his "state of the company" messages on YouTube.  They are […]

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As a life-long research guy, I always love when I read about new methodologies and survey techniques that chase after the "Holy Grail" of why consumers do the things they do.  That's why I love focus groups (and Listener Advisory Boards) because they are more about stories than data.  Or ethnography surveys, such as "The […]

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As a life-long research guy, I always love when I read about new methodologies and survey techniques that chase after the "Holy Grail" of why consumers do the things they do.  That's why I love focus groups (and Listener Advisory Boards) because they are more about stories than data.  Or ethnography surveys, such as "The […]

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I'm sure this has happened to you.  You're at a gathering with non-radio people, and inevitably the conversation turns to what you do for a living.  And how many times have you been asked, "Isn't satellite radio killing you guys?"  Or "How is AM/FM radio doing now that satellite radio has become so popular?" Perception […]

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There's been lots of buzz – good and bad – about KFC's attempt to reinvent itself (Kentucky Grilled Chicken) by offering the Western World a coupon for free chicken.  Like the screwed up Dr. Pepper promotion last year (free soda if Guns N' Roses released Chinese Democracy), these offers are often unfulfillable because of their […]

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We decided to conduct a little experiment at Jacobs Media yesterday morning.  We had a feeling that Star Trek would do well, but at more than $76 million in box office receipts over the weekend, the movie exceeded just about everyone’s expectations. If you buy into the notion that morning shows ought to be a […]

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You may have seen the story that at the recent OMMA Mobile Conference, a major exec from Papa John's Pizza, Jim McDonnell, expressed his disappointment with the company's iPhone app.  There's only one problem – his company doesn't have an app available at the App Store. If you own an iPhone (or Touch), you know […]

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Today's post is a guest entry from Tom Yates, owner, manager, DJ, and salesperson at The Coast, KOZT, Mendocino.  Some of you may recall that among other major market operations, Tom programmed KLOS "back in the day," and was the first PD of KLSX in the late '80s.  Not long after, Tom "dropped out," and […]

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As I mentioned on this blog some months back, I bought a Kindle II from Amazon.  For someone like me who's on airplanes every week, this device is perfect.  I download new books in under a minute, and the device can hold hundreds of novels, along with newspapers, and even Word docs and pdfs.  For […]

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Josh Lovison, who writes for MediaPost magazines – whose emails I read every day – wrote an incredibly incisive analysis of the Apple App Store, and the unknown guy who made it happen.   While you might assume that the success of the iPhone/Touch apps was born at Apple headquarters in Cuppertino, the fact is that […]

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One of the big findings from our new Tech Poll is the continued rise in usage of social networking sites.  Now, I can hear your collective "duh," so let me cut to a data point that separates our survey from the others you've read about: We're seeing Facebook jump ahead of MySpace in overall usage […]

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One of the big findings from our new Tech Poll is the continued rise in usage of social networking sites.  Now, I can hear your collective "duh," so let me cut to a data point that separates our survey from the others you've read about: We're seeing Facebook jump ahead of MySpace in overall usage […]

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It is truly amazing to watch the old rules and conventions fall during this brutal recession.  But like any bad event, opportunities continue to manifest themselves – if marketers read the tea leaves. Over the past several years, brands have been obsessed with thinking and appealing younger.  In the process, older consumers were treated like […]

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If you think back throughout your years in radio, it has probably dawned on you that while newspapers were out there selling their big box circulation numbers, radio was hung up on selling with the smallest numbers possible.  So while the Daily Planet in your market was touting their reach of 750,000 daily readers, your […]

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By now, everyone knows the dilemma.  Whether you're Toyota, Chrysler, or Hummer, there are simply too many cars on dealer lots.  At a time when consumers have pulled way back on spending, and loans are tough to acquire, the auto industry finds itself in the quagmire of all quagmires. But what about consumers who actually […]

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"You either have a strategy that could win for the brand even with the competition or you basically have to stop, and our conclusion was we didn't have a strategy we were satisfied with that could let us win with FILL IN THE BLANK.  We don't have the resources or the marketing muscle to put […]

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No, not that Ram, but the economic guru, Ram Charan.  Paul and I were fortunate to attend a conference that he keynoted, and moderated.  If you've never heard of him, Ram is a visionary economic expert, and full of wisdom and philosophy that is especially pertinent during these trying times.  With one part Maharishi Mahesh […]

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