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A new study shows that about one-third of big companies in the U.S. and the U.K. hire employees to read company emails.  They say they’re guarding against various risks in the process, but the bottom line is that most employees have no clue this is going on. Yet, you’d be surprised at the number of […]

Today, it’s a Guest Blog from WRIF Music Director, Mark Pennington.  The Greater Media stations here in Detroit have been very active with HD Radio.  Each of the three stations has had HD2 stations on the air for the better part of a year, promoting them aggressively.  In this blog entry, Mark talks about what’s […]

Today, we’re joined for a guest blog from Jacobs Media Senior Consultant Dave Beasing: Americans will bet on anything.  The LA Times (6/5/06) offers the latest proof with a report that (illegal) online bookies are accepting wagers about Opening Weekend Movie Box Office.  Hey, why not?  People in this town have been betting their careers […]

The disconnects between the advertising industry and radio continue to boggle the mind – and raise questions about the difficulties radio faces for getting back into the game.  In this space, we discussed the absurd demise of a radio franchise – the Oldies format – all because it cannot be sold due to aging demographics. […]

As I write this blog on June 15th, the Detroit Tigers have just won their 43rd game of the 2006 season.  Big deal, right?  Well, it so happens the Tigers are in first place in the AL Central, and own the best record in Major League Baseball. But that’s not why this odd milestone in […]

In the week when Paul McCartney turns 64 years-old (June 18th), it’s announced that Signatures Network has just inked a licensing and branding deal with the guys who own the Woodstock name.  Translation:  look for branded Woodstock merchandise; everything from clothing, sportswear, accessories, and even home decor.  They’re targeting Boomers who lived in the midst […]

We’ve been on the streaming bandwagon for years.  Yesterday, the key streaming data from the 2006 Jacobs Media Technology Web Poll was released, and it looks good.  My favorite chart is the one below, which shows that "streamies" are spending more time on their P1 stations’ sites than Internet sources like AOL Radio. Why the […]

The research is in.  The Insurance Institute for Highway Safety reports that the Ford Taurus is the least stolen car in America.  Now if you drive one of these cars, you’re happy.  You’ve bought a vehicle so bland that not even thieves want them in their driveways. But if you’re the Ford Motor Company, you […]

A number of years ago, we coined the phrase, "Retail Radio," a consultantese rip of "Retail Politics" – the fine art of working the streets to win votes.  As we learned from Edison’s Larry Rosin, the results of political races are often determined by a factor as simple as whether voters meet a candidate in […]

Yes, you’re reading that number correctly.  According to Agence France-Presse, one billion people have Internet access worldwide, and of them, a quarter has broadband connections. This only reinforces the notion that with all these Internet surfers, all those iPods being sold, and everyone checking sports scores and stock prices on their cell phones, how can […]

It is amazing to watch radio adapt to change, especially as it concerns integrating technology into radio stations that used to think about equipment upgrades as buying new CD players for the studio. And as technology moves at a breakneck pace, it’s interesting to note how our vision about the future has changed – quickly.  […]

As many of you know, ours is a unique perspective on the radio business.  While not technically working for anybody, we essentially work for just about everybody.  As they say, we could write a book.  But there wouldn’t be a lot of readers.  Hence, this blog.  So as we near the halfway point of this […]

From the "Cell Phone Only File" comes a report that more and more colleges are yanking landlines out of dormitories.  Why?  Because nine of ten students have cell phones, making landlines superfluous. According to reports, most colleges are considering saving the money they spend on landlines and investing it in other technologies.  Case in point […]

Today we welcome Beau Phillips with a guest blog talking about how he pulled together WFNX’s and Snapple’s "Summer Free For All." After years of living and breathing radio, I now represent advertisers.  Let me share what I hear from them:  The clutter is brutal.  If "less is more," you can’t tell by listening to […]