The Jacobs Media Blog

A new Twitter study about acknowledgment and response time clearly shows the value of customer service. In today’s post, we look inside their research to provide evidence that any radio station or company can improve its loyalty, sales, and word of mouth with strong customer service goals and execution.

As the year winds down, it’s a great time to reassess your station brand. This morning’s post is about a new exercise that can help you determine how many “zombies” are lurking around your radio station – promotions, events, and features that are neither alive or dead, but taking up time, space, and energy.

Last week, history was made in Dallas radio as KDGE, The Edge®, changed format. There’s an untold story behind the station and the brand that involves lawyers, guns, and money. Well, not guns. But it’s a great story and it’s the topic of our blog post today.

Most automakers have made the decision to include both Apple CarPlay and Android Auto in their dashboards, with one important holdout: Toyota. In many ways, their conundrum mirrors the dilemma faced by many broadcasters in deciding whether to participate in the iHeartRadio platform. There’s a price to be paid on both sides of these decisions.

In the midst of these turbulent times, there’s something missing on the radio: Activism rock. An entire generation of artists, from Neil Young to Bob Dylan to Country Joe & The Fish famously wrote songs that spoke to their times. In today’s post, we talk about why artists are so reluctant to write music and lyrics that speak to today’s political climate.

Chicago radio broadcasters pulled off a unique feat last night. More than 40 stations collaborated on a “radio roadblock,” simulcasting a live interview of Mayor Rahm Emanuel. How did this event come together, what’s its impact, and could it happen in your market?

As pollsters try to figure out how their predictions went so wrong, will they examine the right things? Just like with radio research, biases and wishful thinking creep into the strategic process. We see the numbers we want to see. Whether it’s the ratings or perceptual research, we’ve all been there.

Yesterday’s historic election is another reminder of the importance of “retail politics” – hitting the streets, shaking hands, and working the crowds. And that’s also a truism for radio, especially in a more crowded media landscape. Our blog post today is about “retail radio,” and a novel idea for a station vehicle.

I’m in the market for a new car, and looking closely at dashboard technology. The new Lincoln MKZ is a beautiful car with the newly simplified Sync 3 system and Apple CarPlay but there’s something glaringly missing in their dashboard feature offerings that impacts the AM/FM radio experience in a major way.

Every time we turn around, it’s another article or research study about the Millennial generation. Most are full of stereotypes, wrong-headed conclusions, and out-and-out myths. Today’s post does a little myth busting about Millennials, a generation that needs to be better understood and appreciated.

Radio is at its best when it connects audience communities to the music they love. The passing of Glenn Frey earlier in the year presented opportunities for Classic Rock radio to step up and make memories for thousands of fans, while celebrating the contributions of a great artist. Recently KSLX did just that with a tribute to the Eagles’ co-founder on a corner in Winslow, Arizona. It could only happen on the radio.

comScore’s compelling new report about mobile ends the debate about whether the future will be dominated by mobile apps or the mobile web. Whether it’s on smartphones or tablets, mobile apps rule.