The Jacobs Media Blog

We often learn best by observing. And while “best practices” are always helpful, we can also pick up valuable lessons by learning what NOT to do. Today’s post breaks down the trials, tribulations, and debacles of a well-known fast quality restaurant chain that had made many familiar mistakes – the same things we see many radio companies do.

It may be tempting to talk politics on your radio show, but today’s blog provides some evidence for why playing it straight might be the better way to go. Just ask Netflix CEO Reed Hastings, Taylor Swift, and the nation’s feline population.

Women in the workforce has been a common topic over the last decade or so. In radio, however, the conversation has been more sporadic. Our new AQ6 study features new data about how women in the air studio are getting along. And now, a new McKinsey report – “Women in the Workplace” – sheds light on the overall outlook for women on the job. In radio, our numbers indicate we’ve got a long way to go. To get a sense for what’s in front of us as an industry, just click “READ MORE.”

A big change may be coming to how Nielsen’s PPM system will measure radio listening, impacting the entire industry. Today’s blog post breaks it down – the winners, the losers, and what this may mean moving forward. Buckle up, because this one’s a true game-changer.

Change is hard. But so is staying the same and hoping for the best. During my travels, Paul and I are often asked, “Are we going to be OK?” In today’s post, I’m going to answer that question.

Are you feeling the stress as we head into the end of an already tough year? You can cut the pressure with a knife. For millions of Americans, stress levels are off the charts. And if there’s any good news in the data, it’s that many still turn to the radio for relief and escape. But who’s tending to the pros on the air, tasked with making us laugh, informing us, entertaining us, or simply helping us get away from our problems during their commutes? That’s the question in today’s JacoBLOG as we approach Peak Stress.

In little more than 100 days from now, we will have welcomed in a new year – and we will be jetting off to Las Vegas to experience CES 2025. The Consumer Electronic Show (as this amazing event is often known as) is the table-setter for the year in tech and media ahead. COVID aside, Paul and I have made the trip every year since 2009. This year, we hope you’ll be joining us. Why do we go each year? As broadcaster extraordinaire Jerry Lee once explained to me, we “don’t want to miss the future.”

In just 45 days, America votes (of course, vote by mail has already started), but how will your radio station fare in the heat of this historic moment? If you run a news station, especially in the pubic radio space, you’re probably walking a razor’s edge between attracting audience and repelling them. Today, JacoBLOG is here to help, with exclusive new data from our yet-to-be-released PRTS 2024 study. There are insights here for everyone in radio. Dig in.

Everybody knows the radio business is the most competitive of them all. Except it’s not. They’re ALL competitive. And in today’s post, we take a walk down the grocery aisle to provide a great object lesson about what profitability and sustainability look like. Just watch that spill on aisle 7.

Launching a new brand or format in radio has become a risky business. But what about figuring out how to successfully extend the brand of an existing show or station? One of the most famous network TV shows is right now in the middle of this process. And it provides great lessons and “best practices” for radio stations and companies. Click READ MORE and let’s take a look.

Now more than ever, consumers love a great story. Whether rooted in sports, music, pop culture, or the news of the day, great stories – and the people with the talent and the cred to tell them – are at a premium. In radio, how companies utilize their beet storytellers may indeed determine whether they thrive….or survive. It all comes down to that person telling the story: do you trust them, are they the genuine article, do they make you care?

For publicly traded companies, there is a lot riding on CEOs to make the right calls. So when a brand loses its way and a new CEO walks in the door, she had better get it right. And that means assessing the environment and making the right moves out of the box. Whether you’re selling gourmet coffee or radio air time, the fix is in. And hopefully they’re fixing the right things.

A fascinating phenomenon has gained in popularity over the last two decades: music rediscovery. These are songs that somehow are resurrected, appearing years later on the charts. Can you name the most rediscovered song of all time?

Another year, and it’s another Apple event announcing shiny, brand new products. And yesterday was no exception. In case you missed it, Apple rolled out its long awaited AI-integrated iPhone. This 16th version of one of the most brilliant tech achievements of all time – the iPhone – has much significance to our personal and our radio lives. And to help us understand what it all means, jacapps’ Bob Kernen breaks it all down for us – seamlessly.

We continue to live with the reverberations of COVID. No, none of us practices social distancing anymore and fewer of us still wear masks. But the lasting effects of the pandemic are especially being felt in the workforce in the form of WFH and flexible hours. In radio, these issues are of prime importance because routine listenership is part of what makes stations and shows “habit-forming.” New research on commuting patterns and the most important days for car trips might just rock your world. That’s our blog topic today, an important one to start off the new workweek (at least for some of us).

Podcasters of all shapes and sizes are grappling with hosting challenges that will sound all too familiar to radio programmers and hosts. In today’s post, it’s a statement of the obvious from podcasters striving for talent chemistry. Prepare those eye rolls.