Our founder, Fred Jacobs, offers insights into the latest trends in broadcasting and digital media.
The Art Of The Drive-By
The news that the film, Quadrophenia, is being released newly restored on Blu-ray and DVD today brought back some vivid memories of why being present is so important. More on the film in a moment. As PDs and GMs are being spread all over clusters – and half of America – it is becoming more […]
Read MoreWhat’s On Your Mind(set)?
Every year Beloit College (Beloit, WI) puts together a compelling list that is often a reality check for those of us north of 40 years-old. Taking a look at their incoming freshmen (The Class of 2016), their team creates a list of things these young people – born in 1994 – think, believe, and experience […]
Read MoreThe Sands Of Time
At times in this blog, we have lamented the departures from day to day programming of some of the great PDs of the past few decades. That is especially the case with Richard Sands, former program director of Live 105/San Francisco. When Jacobs Media was developing The Edge (yes, it’s still trademarked) in the late’80s/early ‘90s, […]
Read MoreThe Power of One
As the PPM journey continues to elate, confuse, confound, and cause wonder about the state of radio measurement, we are increasingly seeing the power that just a handful of metered respondents can have on the impact of the ratings. This is an issue that I will gladly let Arbitron deal with among their clients, but […]
Read MoreTake That, McGruff 2
Yesterday, we discussed Saga Communications’ decision to end ad insertion in its streams. And that opens the door to a larger conversation and a bigger question: If we cannot monetize it, why are we still doing it? Of course, there are certain activities that radio stations should engage in that will never generate revenue – […]
Read MoreTake That, McGruff
Finally, a broadcaster has stepped up and done what radio people have been talking about for a decade. In case you missed it, Saga Communication has dispatched their ad insertion streaming apparatus and is now simulcasting its terrestrial programming on its digital streams. Broadcasters have wrung their hands about this for years – for all […]
Read MoreThe Inconvenient Truth
First, it was rock and pop stars dying on the weekend. Then it was tornadoes. Now Mitt Romney chooses Saturday morning at 9am ET to announce his new running mate, Paul Ryan. For some reason, big news keeps happening on Saturday and Sunday when many media outlets are staffed with part-timers – or worse, automation […]
Read MoreListen To The Boss
Bruce Springsteen blew through Boston this week, another leg of his 2012 Wrecking Ball Tour. And one of his biggest fans, Greater Media Boston programmer (WROR and WBOS), Ken West, was on hand and taking copious notes. This morning, Ken brings us six lessons that on-air talent and personality shows could glean from observing The […]
Read MoreFinding Music
If about half of your company’s sales leads came from one key source, something tells me that you’d do everything you could to keep that financial reservoir happy and healthy. When your best opportunity for exposure, sales, and word of mouth emanates from a single source, smart executives would most definitely laser focus on keeping that fire hose […]
Read MoreBy Design
Remember the first time you saw the PC/Mac commercial featuring these two guys? In a smart series of ads, Apple reinforced many deep-seated beliefs about Microsoft and the differences between the two companies. It was powerful, memorable, and effective. Image matters. So does design. That’s why when I saw this new Charles Schwab spot for the first […]
Read MoreMost Powerful? – In Response
Last week, we devoted a post to Radio Ink’s “40 Most Powerful” list – its dominance by CEOs and SVPs, and the role of programming, programmers, and talent in the grand scheme of all things radio. The post was highly read and circulated, sparking a number of comments that I believe are pertinent to the […]
Read More“Friends” With Benefits
Jacobs clients and those who have seen us speak at conferences over the past couple of years have likely heard us say, “Everybody in the audience has an audience.” That’s a quote from social media author (and former Arbitron employee) Greg Verdino. Speaking at one of our conferences a couple of year ago, Greg reminded […]
Read MoreTrue Friends
In our ongoing dialogue with clients about how to best utilize social networks as a marketing and communications tool for radio and its personalities, we keep running into questions about how many “likes” or “friends” a station have in fill-in-the-blank market size. Lori Lewis, in particular, is adamant about how thinking about the numbers of friends misses […]
Read MoreMost Powerful?
Another year and another ranking of Radio Ink’s “40 Most Powerful People In Radio” is on the streets and on coffee tables at stations everywhere. And guess what? It continues to be comprised of CEOs, EVPs, and other heads of companies. This is nothing new. Now I know that inside the corner offices, those fortunate […]
Read MoreA Black Hole
The Wall Street community always amazes and confounds me at the same time. (Remember I suggested that Facebook would be a good buy.) So when it comes to investing in media, are you smarter to commit your portfolio to up-and-coming new media outlets like Pandora OR stick with traditional media companies? Or Treasury Bills? Or Apple? […]
Read MoreLive & Local
I have a feeling that if President Obama were in radio, he wouldn’t be a big fan of nationally syndicated programming and voicetracking. How do I know this? Well, if you look at what his campaign is up to this summer, you can see that despite having the incumbent’s advantage in holding photo ops from […]
Read MoreLive & Local
I have a feeling that if President Obama were in radio, he wouldn’t be a big fan of nationally syndicated programming and voicetracking. How do I know this? Well, if you look at what his campaign is up to this summer, you can see that despite having the incumbent’s advantage in holding photo ops from […]
Read More10 Shades of Failure
Jacobs Media’s Ralph Cipolla takes a backwards look at tactics that you just might not want to use in your customer engagement strategies. Or in other words, “what not to do.” Below is a recent Seth Godin blog that caught my eye. It’s easier to love a brand when the brand loves you back by […]
Read MoreResearch Is Marketing
Now you find out your marketing budget has been slashed as you head into the fall book. What do you do? Easy – it’s time for some research. On the assumption that you have a database, it may be as basic as putting together a short questionnaire, serving it up to your loyal listeners, and collecting the data. […]
Read MoreSlacking Off
Techsurvey8 dedicated a number of questions to better understanding the Internet environment among the radio listening community. And to no one’s surprise, Pandora has a huge lead over everyone else in the pure-play world. While well more than 40% of those who stream listen to Pandora, only 5% say they tune in Slacker. And they’ve […]
Read More- « Previous Page
- 1
- …
- 156
- 157
- 158
- 159
- 160
- …
- 273
- Next Page »