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Amidst the financial craziness of the last several weeks, many media conglomerates – including most radio companies – have slashed marketing budgets, laid off more employees, and battened down the economic hatches.  Of course, this won’t lead to better or more compelling content.  But the bottom line is the bottom line, right? Contrast this approach […]

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Perhaps your eyes have been peeled on the state of your 401K these days, so you might have missed the major announcement from Ringo Starr.  The formerBeatles drummer has announced on his website that as of this Monday (October 20th), he will no longer be accepting fan letters requesting autographs.  Citing that he’s too busy […]

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Remember playing Monopoly with your friends and family?  The two holdings that were of the least value on the board were always the utilities – Water Works and Electric Company.  This was because you couldn’t build on them, no one ever seemed to land on them, and frankly, they were boring. That’s what utilities tend […]

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In speaking with a number of clients about the Presidential election, we continue to confront some difficult issues.  Many stations are still asking whether they should even be talking about this hot race, while others are tackling it in many different ways.  Here are some things to consider when calculating your strategy during the final […]

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The changing tides in music discovery and consumption continue to lead back to video games.  Viacom, emboldened by the success of Rock Band, is pouring it on.  Last week, they announced the AC/DC version of the game, AC/DC Live: Rock Band Track Pack.  Going to that next step, this game lets players experiment with 18 […]

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Jordan Ayan, CEO of SubscriberMail, has written a great article about where the Obama and McCain campaigns are going wrong when it comes to their database marketing techniques.  Obama gets the lion’s share of credit on his use of the Internet to raise money and aggregate supporters, but Ayan’s criticisms of both him and McCain […]

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I’m not referring to Barack Obama’s 1980’s job, but the growth of social networks, from MySpace and Facebook, to LinkedIn and Classmates.com.  More and more, these digital connectors are springing up all over the Internet. In fact, public radio now has its own official social network – NPR Community.  It’s a way for fans of […]

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Jacobs Media’s Director of Internet Strategies, Tim Davis, shares some insights from CBS’ Les Moonves. The title of today’s blog is how CBS mogul Les Moonves envisions the future of entertainment and media. In a recent speech at the Interactive Advertising Bureau’s Mixx Conference, Moonves talked about how CBS – once one of the major […]

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Amidst the craziness of the ongoing political and economic insanity, you may have missed the news that John McCain says he is considering New York Attorney General Andrew Cuomo for chairman of the Security and Exchange Commission – that is, if McCain is elected President.  It’s an interesting idea, and another indication that McCain will […]

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With apologies to MTV and the Buggles, a new study shows the importance of video streaming in the Internet world – among Boomers.  A new study by the NPD Group shows that a majority (61%) of Boomers web users have streamed video. Leo Laporte said the same thing during our recent Summit and NAB sessions […]

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I don’t know about you, but I stopped caring about Katie Couric a couple of days after her anchor debut on the CBS Evening News.  Part of my disinterest is due to the fact that most of my news consumption occurs on cable channels like MSNBC and CNN, or simply online at various news and […]

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I don’t know about you, but every time I hear a station take the 9th caller (especially with those touchtone sound effects), I get flashbacks to Mr. Mister and decades that I’d just as soon forget.  It just sounds dated, and is perhaps a subtle reminder that radio unknowingly continues to use antiquated techniques and […]

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Tom Shales, legendary TV critic for The Washington Post, has seen the tube go through lots of changes.  From cable to satellite to DVRs, and from black & white televisions to flat screen plasmas.  In a recent column, he also discusses the demise of television "seasons," network control of what we watch, and the rising […]

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Today’s blog is from our own Keith Cunningham who speaks on radio needing to step it up and take "risks" to improve its quality by embracing new digital initiatives. While there are many opinions about whether or not cable news networks are biased, here’s a news flash:  Fox News is NOT conservative when it comes […]

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It’s getting tougher out there, and I thought that on a Friday, perhaps you could use a bit of good news before you head out for the weekend. The RAB showed a video at the NAB Convention that is "Must-See TV" for anyone in radio.  It’s linked below, and really does a nice job of […]

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Today’s guest blog is from our own Paul Jacobs, who provides insight on how advertisers can better connect with consumers by advertising more with radio. While glancing at a recent copy of Automotive News, I saw yet another headline about where automobile advertising is going – downhill.  This article points out that not only will […]

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Last week, Pink Floyd’s Richard Wright passed away, another of those sad but not surprising Classic Rock passings.  At these moments, we make it a point to look and listen to how stations handle these big music news events. While a few clients and other Classic Rock stations acknowledged Wright’s career (a few Floyd songs […]

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