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If you saw our "Bedroom Project" (Arbitron & Jacobs Media’s ethnographic study) at the NAB and also Jacobs Summit last fall, you know that one of the big headlines had to do with radio’s growing "location" problem.  As we saw with many of the young people in our survey, they often don’t have a radio […]

In today’s blog from Paul Jacobs, he advises radio about what it must do to increase revenue by focusing on new digital strategies: While radio revenue continues to struggle to stay even year-to-year, online expenditures by the auto companies are expected to rise more than 21% this year, surpassing $3 billion.  The Detroit 3 (they’re […]

Today we have a guest blog from Jacobs’ Digital Director Tim Davis, recounting his Disney experience: I recently had the pleasure of spending a few days in the wonderful world of Disney – Disney World to be precise. From beginning to end, it was a delight.  From the moment you arrive in Orlando and head […]

On Tuesday, USA Today featured several articles on HD Radio in both their Money and Life sections.  For a media moment, HD Radio appeared to be on an equal footing with iPods, hot new phones, and other media gadgets. But when you study the various articles, the source of the buzz is HD Radio content.  […]

Respected newspaper columnist Leonard Pitts Jr. recently had an epiphany about his business and the Internet.  In a revealing column, he essentially threw in the towel over the issue of saving the newspaper industry, and said "We must blow it up instead."  If that sounds a bit like Jason Calacanis' take on radio at our […]

The recent announcement by Anheuser-Busch that they are cutting marketing budgets to stave off the takeover from a Belgian brewer is another slap in radio’s face.  In this chapter, the beer company that has dominated radio advertising for decades has decided to pull significant radio dollars off the table – and in some cases, is […]

Today’s blog from Keith Cunningham wisely reminds us of the importance of maintaining updated direct mail marketing lists: What do the following Los Angeles stations, KIIS, KYSR, KOST and MY-FM (formerly KBIG) have in common?  Yes, they’re all owned by Clear Channel, but that’s not the answer. It’s that I’ve been consistently receiving direct mail […]

JacoBlog will return on Monday, July 7th.  Enjoy your holiday!!

As we become more attuned to analyzing PPM numbers, it’s looking more and more that well-branded and well-positioned Classic Rock stations should do very well in a metered world.  Of course, many operators of Classic Rock stations have experienced two decades of pretty consistent success, playing the best rock from the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s. […]

There are times when Radio seems almost Third World in its efforts to catch up to other media, when it comes to technology and digital strategies.  But there’s one area where Radio is often ahead of the curve – email databases. At Jacobs Media, we have been fortunate to work and interact with a variety […]

Now that AOL and CBS Radio have hooked up in what CEO Dan Mason says is a merger that "has instantly doubled our daily audience of listeners," it’s another victory for strong brands.  For years, AOL has offered generic streaming radio stations that were as exciting as wallpaper.  Now with 150 CBS Radio stations to […]

There was a time only a decade or so ago in Rock Radio where we had it all to ourselves.  We controlled our music and our pop culture.  Sure, some of Rock’s featured bands would appear on Saturday Night Live, and there was always the competition from MTV.  But for the most part, if you […]

While watching a recent streaming video segment from CNBC – "The Business of Innovation" – featuring Mel Karmazin, it reminded me of Mel’s talent for proofing ideas and forcing his people to exercise logic, strategy, and fiscal sense.  In the clip below, Mel talks about how Sirius came up with the idea of streaming television […]

The passing of George Carlin this week brought many memories to mind, especially the controversy, the language, and indecency comparisons.  For many comedians and even DJs, Carlin was very influential in their career choices and even their development as entertainers. But there was another side to George that came to light, from ESPN fantasy sports […]