What IS local news and why does it matter? Is it school board meetings, cultural activities, election coverage, or a combination of these things – and more? While many mainstream media companies struggle with their news budgets, a surprising new group of journalists is ready to grab the golden ring and make local journalism their driving force. And some of them may be living in your home.

Are we headed into a recession? What does that portend for the local retail landscape, especially as we come out of COVID. Paul Jacobs takes a look at the current environment, and lays out a strategic plan that hopefully gets the juices flowing – and hopefully, the cash registers ringing.

In our overcrowded media environment, how can you explain that one of the biggest political scandals in decades was under everyone’s collective nose – and no one uncovered it? And if not for a small, weekly newspaper, we might have never known about it. Our blog post today turns the local news opportunity on its side. And makes the case why public radio stations – in big and small markets – should be strategizing around the local news opportunity.

Amazon’s Prime Day has come and gone, leaving waves of revenue in its massive wake. These shopping extravaganzas are reminder to radio about the need to keep local retail businesses as healthy as possible. In today’s post, Paul Jacobs hits the keyboard with a dozen great concepts radio can do to ensure it stays strong in the all-important hometown revenue category.

Decisions, decisions, decisions. In radio they come fast and furious, day in and day out. And in today’s blog post. Paul Jacobs takes on the challenge presented by an advertising buy that’s good for sales, but maybe not so great for programming. As you read the post, ask yourself, “What would YOU do?” Although it may turn out, it’s a decision you’ve already made.

It’s early January, and you know what that means for U.S. radio? The one-day sale. That’s when entire clusters rationalize the first quarter is always slow, so let’s bring the entire cluster together and offer one-time-only deep discounts on sales inventory that’s just piling up anyway. Our sales guru, Paul Jacobs, thinks this isn’t the best of ideas. And to prove it, he carts out perhaps the savviest financial manager in the country to offer up a better alternative. Keep those red tags on hold and check out today’s JacoBLOG post.

Over the weekend, Virgin CEO Sir Richard Branson took that long-awaited trip to space. And in the process, he showed what corporate leadership and inspiration are all about. But there’s one accomplishment that has eluded Branson – American radio.

In Q4, it was an avalanche of political ad spending that helped 2020 finish on a high note. And now in the new year, we’re seeing signs there could be a revenue tsunami from two vices – weed and wagering. For today’s guest blog post, I hand the keyboard over to Paul Jacobs for a look at how radio companies are already defining their business models as we move into what we hope will be the Roaring 2020s.

Welcome to February where it’s become clear that many of the changes we saw in 2020 have carried over to the new year. There’s opportunity for radio broadcasters despite the accelerated pace of change. And in today’s guest blog post, Paul Jacobs puts on his sales hat – er, face mask – to discuss the doors that are closing – along with the new ones opening.

For radio, this promises to be a holiday season like no other. Guest blogger Paul Jacobs takes to the keyboard to list eight smart steps all radio sales departments can take to ensure a Scrooge-less holiday. Paul is armed with fresh new research about the consumer holiday mindset, and more than four decades of experience with buyers, planners, and retailers. It’s a good read.

In an already crazy year, the advertiser boycott against Facebook has picked up steam, disrupting millions and millions of dollars of ad and marketing spend. But how can radio broadcasters cash in? More often than not, when one door closes, another one opens. In today’s post, Paul Jacobs breaks down Mark Zuckerberg’s mountain of angst, and lays out a pathway for local radio broadcasters to follow.

Media sales – especially in radio – seems to get more challenging with each passing year. But it’s even more arduous when advertisers and marketers buy into false conceptions about audiences and their spending. In today’s guest blog post, Paul Jacobs sits down at the keyboard and explains how “Fake News” has permeated the marketing mindset, and what radio sales teams an do to turn it around. Chances are, it’s affecting your station’s bottom line.

Thanks to myriad digital media outlets, the advertising and marketing environment is more confusing than ever. And that spells opportunity for radio. In today’s guest blog post, Paul Jacobs is armed with new data that shows how radio broadcasters can fill the void, and become the go-to sources in local markets for advertising expertise.