The Jacobs Media Blog

The “big news” story on Friday was all about BlackBerry, and how parent company RIM missed their earnings projection.  This sent their stock tumbling 28% in what CNN Money referred to as “a surprise loss.” Surprise loss?  To whom? It was certainly no surprise, especially to stations that participated in this year’s Techsurvey9 – or […]

It’s that inevitable moment where a business or a brand realizes that perhaps it’s stayed a bit too long at the dance. Last week, the board of Men’s Wearhouse offed spokeperson and company founder George Zimmer in a scene right out of Game of Thrones – minus the blood. For Zimmer, he was the long-time […]

The more we read about “big data” (now an official term in the Oxford English Dictionary, by the way), the more it seduces us into thinking about scalability, efficiency, algorithms, and megatrends when it comes to winning over customers. But the reality is that while it is possible to amass thousands or even millions of […]

There aren’t a whole lot of physical knobs and buttons on most of the “digital dashboards” rolling off the assembly lines these days.  But as the automakers grapple with finding ways to improve the user interface in their infotainment systems, we may see and hear more and more old school radio terms and gadgetry. But […]

You have to hand it Bob Lefsetz.  His “Lefsetz Letter,” frequently devoted to stories and topics about music, never fails to stimulate.  Bob always puts his emotional view of the industry front and center, inviting you to think and engage with his opinions. The other day, JacoBLOG reader Mike Anthony brought one of Bob’s recent […]

Lori Lewis is a student of the social media game.  I don’t believe there’s anyone in radio who studies this space more than her.  And yet, as she’ll tell you, success in social media is a very inexact “science.”  In fact, what works for one station very likely may not work for another.  But the […]

We can throw the 93% number around all we like, but the bottom line is that radio listening levels vary depending on the group you’re looking at. In a recent series of posts, we’ve talked about the concerning radio problem centering on lost youth – specifically, the notion that the medium has lost a generation of listeners over the […]

The news that “Mayhem In The Morning” was given the ax by Lincoln Financial’s 790 The Zone/Atlanta wasn’t really news.  And the story really isn’t about whether they should have been suspended, fired, or disciplined. What makes this disaster “news” is that it keeps happening.  Again and again. In case you missed it, this morning […]

Radio stations throughout the land have all been fighting a war of attrition these past few years: shrinking marketing budgets. Now if we were a bunch of Kentucky Fried Chicken franchises, we’d be in trouble.  But because we’re radio stations – brands that consumers still are passionate about – we have alternatives, and pretty good […]

These are the times that truly test some of the core tenets of the media business, and radio is at the epicenter of the debate. Specifically, the issue of control. Who controls the music you hear?  Who selects it?  Who filters it?  And how can the music experience get better at a time when it’s […]

It seems like every week, we’re treated to more and more news that our once-predictable, stable, media world is changing yet again.  And fast. Consider that this past week there were more “breaking news” stories coming out of the radio industry trades than on CNN.  (And it appears that the radio coverage was more accurate, […]

Don’t think for a moment that talk and chatter don’t lead to perceptions. In radio, the talk for the past few weeks (few years?) has been about layoffs in highly visible radio companies. And while cutbacks are still only rumored, smaller employee counts have become the norm in radio.  And it continues to be a part […]

The long-awaited announcement that Apple is now officially playing radio – called iTunes Radio (italics mine) – simply reinforces what has long been happening in the pure-play space: Everyone’s trying to recast, redefine, and reinvent radio – except most radio broadcasters. Pandora’s response to Apple’s new baby sounded a lot like Mad’s goofy poster boy, Alfred […]

This morning, we hear from Paul Jacobs and his perspective as an industry leading sales maven.  For more than four decades, Paul has seen it all from his perch as a rep, sales and general manager, and consultant for Jacobs Media.  Here’s his POV on a hot topic in radio: Despite being brothers, there are […]

Last week in a suburb of Detroit – Novi, to be exact – Telematics Update held their annual conference, bringing together a growing group of automotive and media professionals to discuss the ongoing hot topic – “the connected car.” Nearly 2,000 professionals made the trip to Metro Detroit.  For Paul and me, it was a […]

So you think radio is a competitive business? Apple is in a war with Samsung, and it’s a bloody one.  Sure, it’s about volume (in radio parlance, ratings), but it’s even more about the cool factor.  And in that dimension, Apple has a challenge on its hands with the Galaxy S4 handsets. This is a […]

On the heels of Paul’s excellent post yesterday about mobile revenue – specifically from the local angle – comes today’s entry about media ad spending.  Last week, Kleiner Perkins Caufield Byers’ killer analyst, Mary Meeker, presented her always amazing Internet Trends 2013 report. It’s 117 of the most remarkable slides you’ll see that synopsizes what’s […]

jacAPPS President Paul Jacobs has seen and learned a lot since the launch of the company back in 2008.  The company’s 800 apps that have been developed for brands worldwide serve as digital Petri dishes for learning about the mobile space and how consumers are adapting to faster, more feature-filled smartphones.  In today’s post, he […]

We’ve all been there. You wake up one day – or 5 o’clock rolls around – and it turns out that one of your competitors has changed formats. And now they’re coming right at you. They’re playing your music, with your value proposition, and your liners.  And they’re commercial-free so even  your core fans will […]