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Hope your holidays are sailing along – family, football, rest, and relaxation. That’s how it was going for me, until the news of Don Imus’ passing last week. And so, we’re putting “Best of JacoBLOG” on hold today, and taking an uncomfortable but revealing deep dive into a radio star who stirred up the emotions in all of us. Where do you stand on Imus?

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Classic Rock is a frequent topic in this blog. After all, it’s the format that put our company on the map. But it has also emerged as one of the most important music genres in broadcast radio, and a hot topic in pop culture circles. Recently, Rolling Stone broke down the reasons behind Classic Rock’s rising arc, despite untimely deaths that will sadly keep on coming. We’ve got 6 important reasons why the music and the format are on the move as we head into 2020.

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The biggest tech companies – Amazon, Facebook, Google, Tesla – have become famous for their innovations. But perhaps the most famous of them all – Apple – has recently unveiled a new marketing concept that has garnered surprisingly little attention. Today’s post looks at the newest promotion from the creatives in Cupertino, designed to spread the word about the Apple News platform.

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“Radio – the Final Frontier.” Actually, that’s not as far-fetched as it sounds. NASA has its own radio station – “Third Rock Radio” – combining music, personality, stories, and of course, the astronauts themselves. Why did NASA launch a radio station, and how does it build their brand and engage their audience? We talked to the “rocket scientists” behind “Third Rock Radio” about the station and why radio works for NASA. And wait until you see the “jock lounge.”

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Among the torrent of digital media competitors, broadcast radio has an image problem. It signals a need for creative marketing and re-imaging. And in today’s post, we feature three brilliant campaigns that will get your creative juices flowing. To get more respect from listeners, advertisers, politicians, and community leaders, broadcast radio will have to earn it. These three ideas are a great starting point.

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In just a few days, we’ll be seeing those “In memory” flashbacks on all the news and entertainment channels, reminding us how many famous music celebrities have passed on to that great concert hall in the sky. In 2019, Eddie Money, Ric Ocasek, Ginger Baker, Dick Dale, Peter Tork, and Daryl Dragon were among some […]

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In broadcast radio, we have two key yardsticks of success – ratings and sales. But in the world of technology, companies have a different metric. And it’s about answering this question: What is the value of a radio listener? Our blog post today has that answer, and we’ll even show our work.

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On-demand audio and video are advertiser darlings, while traditional media struggle to maintain their marketing mettle. The latest Netflix success is “The Irishman,” a Martin Scorsese gangster film being acclaimed as a “hit: – based on download data. It turns out the vast majority of those who started watching “The Irishman” never finished it. Today’s blog post takes a hard look at the dichotomy between on-demand and traditional media as marketing vehicles and critical successes.

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For years, radio broadcasters have been focused on winning a coveted Marconi. But now, there will be a Pulitzer Prize awarded to “audio reporting.” That’s sparked something of a controversy between the radio and podcasting communities. Maybe some competition is a good thing. Today’s blog post has all the details of this dust-up as well as information about how any broadcaster – or podcaster – can now compete for a Pulitzer.

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Memes and animated GIFs are everywhere in the social space. Usually, they center on celebrities, politicians, musicians, and other famous folks. But rarely are they about radio. Until now.

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Whether the topic is “deregulation” or we shorten it to just “regulation,” opinions throughout the media, tech, and entertainment worlds are numerous and highly charged. In just the past few weeks the subject of whether the government should get involved – or get out of the way – has been at the epicenter of media conversations – all the way to the FCC.

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An appearance by teen singer/songwriter sensation, Billie Eilish on Jimmy Kimmel’s show the other night turned into an internet generational dust-up. The 17 year-old didn’t know who Van Halen was, starting a web “controversy” once again pitting Gen Zers against older generations. Obviously, we need some perspective, and so to the rescue is former Jacobs consultant, Keith Cunningham who has always been on the cutting edge of music trends. Or so he thought.

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Minor league baseball – small market radio. The analogies are endless. But there’s a Class D team in Savannah, Georgia that’s making global waves because of its “Fans First” philosophy. Today’s post lays out 10 lesson to learn from the Savannah Bananas and their enigmatic owner, Jesse Cole, whether you’re in Dallas or Decatur. You’ll want to take notes.

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Today’s blog post has a simple theme. It’s about how an empty chair in a meeting can help you discover your station’s “cultural truth.” Starting with Amazon, a “Fans First” philosophy is being employed by more and more brands in an effort to realign marketing with the audience’s existing beliefs – about your station, and maybe about radio, too.

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Just in time for Thanksgiving, today we’re reprising a post from 2017 in honor of “WKRP In Cincinnati,” a TV sitcom about radio. Aside from being a great parody of the radio business, the show featured one of the great sitcom episodes of all time about a Thanksgiving promotion gone very wrong. Best wishes for a wonderful Thanksgiving (here in the U.S.), and whatever you do, don’t copy this promotion.

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