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A newly released analysis of newspapers website audiences by Scarborough Research shows that the Fourth Estate is finally making some progress in terms of growing online "circulation."  While it’s not offsetting print readership, newspaper websites are having impact, and some of the gains are occurring among 18-34 year-olds, a demographic that wouldn’t know a newsstand […]

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Amidst all the entertainment news about celebrity breakups and marriages was the big story of a media breakup – and marriage. XM Radio and AOL broke up their relationship to stream XM’s streaming radio stations.  Instead, AOL will partner up with CBS Radio, thus providing the broadcaster with an entire new exposure/revenue base.  It’s a […]

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A recent New York Times article, "Hoping to Make Phone Buyers Flip," discusses the aesthetics of mobile phone design.  Companies like LG Electronics (Chocolate & Voyager), Motorola, and Nokia are in an ongoing competition to design the coolest-looking phones.  It’s a form + function game, where designers need to understand the marriage of a phone’s […]

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With compliments to Wiley, creator of Non Sequitur, here’s a bit of comic relief to usher in the weekend.

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A recent article in The New York Times caught my attention because of its obvious parallels to what’s going on in radio.  In this case, it’s about video game giant, Electronic Arts, an industry leader that is finding the going tough because of innovative new games like Guitar Hero (created by Activision).  It seems that […]

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Paul Jacobs shares an example of when "making the sale" isn’t necessarily a good thing: The good news:  Saturn has placed a radio buy The bad news: Listen to the spot Saturn Radio Spot MP3 File What does this say about our reputation when an advertiser places creative on stations, and then questions/mocks the medium’s […]

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In the midst of a conference call about Sirius’ prospects, CEO Mel Karmazin got off one of his signature great lines: "Great content costs money." A no-brainer, perhaps, but given the economic pressures that all of radio is now facing, it’s a quote that should go above desks and cubicles throughout our industry, whether in […]

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Lately, I have been spending more time in sales meetings.  That’s a pretty amazing admission for a programming consultant, but it is emblematic of what’s happening in radio in 2008.  In some ways, it’s a sign that broadcasters are realizing that strategy meetings that don’t include programming, sales, and web managers aren’t accomplishing a whole […]

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Today we have a guest post from Paul Jacobs who offers his insight on how radio needs to invest in solutions to reach younger consumers: A recent article in The Detroit News about how the automotive industry is rapidly moving away from traditional media toward digital solutions to reach younger consumers, who they place a […]

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As we learn more about streaming video, an interesting demographic schism is forming.  18-34 year-old women have a stronger tendency to watch video on network TV sites.  Clearly, this is strongly connected to their attachment to popular network offerings, such as Grey’s Anatomy.  Younger men, on the other hand, are more likely to stream video […]

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This month marks the third anniversary of the JacoBLOG.  We’ve written more than 800 postings to date, and as I’ve come to learn, there’s no shortage of issues and topics to blog about. During this time, there have been a lot of changes the radio industry has faced – many predictable, but a few curve […]

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At the recent RAB convention, the group heads panel produced some telling quotes about the state of radio sales in 2008 (as told by Tom Taylor of Radio-Info) Lew Dickey: "I’m frankly surprised radio’s done as well as it has (because of staff and budget cutbacks)." Peter Smyth, noting the paucity of sales training:  "I’d […]

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Contrary to what you may read, there’s a lot of music being sold these days.  But much of it is not being sold in traditional ways.  As record labels lose their grip on the musicians and bands that used to be their bread and butter, music is being consumed in very non-traditional ways. Of course, […]

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We think not. (As seen in New York City.  Photo credit:  Greg Strassell.  Thanks to Bob Harper for noticing.)

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The momentum for Guitar Hero and now Rock Band continues to point to the exploding popularity of video games that take the player beyond the typical controller.  With one part air guitar, one part "School of Rock," and another part Reality TV, these games give fans a chance to play along.  So far, Activision reports […]

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As Clear Channel moves from the public arena to private ownership, how should we evaluate "Less Is More" as a strategic initiative to change the radio advertising model?  In a recent Wall Street Journal article, CEO John Hogan indicated that three years after the debut of "Less Is More," that program is "yesterday’s news." Claiming […]

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Perhaps I’ll get the collective "Duh" when this blog is posted, but the aftermath of all the expensive Super Bowl TV spots is the difference in web traffic that advertisers garnered.  The big Internet winners were Hyundai, Paramount, and GoDaddy.com. And how did they do it?  It was driven primarily by adding a URL to […]

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Jacobs Media’s Bill Jacobs shares a client promotion that has garnered national attention: Stations are constantly on the lookout for ways to garner attention and make some noise in their markets.  If you take enough shots, every once in a while something breaks through in such a big way that it takes on a life […]

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