The Jacobs Media Blog

I have run across a number of articles and blogs that spell out lessons learned from the election last week.  It’s interesting that in spite of all the media, the hype, and the analyses, we have to wait for the results in order to truly understand what it was all about. But that’s often the […]

There was lots of buzz late last week about an NPD Group study that revealed not only that Internet radio and on-demand music services are growing, but that some of it these increases appear to be coming at broadcast radio’s expense. Overall, listening to Internet radio has climbed 27% year to year, and while AM/FM radio only […]

What a week! The East is still trying to recover from Sandy and another storm blows through. The election is over (but somehow not in Florida), and apparently, going after older white guys turns out not to be a great strategy.  (Are you listening, Rock PDs?)  And then there’s Diane Sawyer and Karl Rove, both of […]

As the guy who brought Classic Rock to radio, I am frequently asked why Rock has not produced another band of the magnitude of the Beatles.  The reasonable answer is that the media world of the ‘60s was so much more simplified and focused than it is today. When you think back on those famous […]

Paul Jacobs took a few minutes out of his hectic schedule to offer his thoughts as our jacAPPS division reaches another milestone.  Here are his perspectives about how the mobile space has evolved and exploded over the past four years. Four years ago this week, we took our own advice.  We had been advising our […]

Bill Weston, program director of legendary WMMR/Philadelphia, is a guy who truly stands at the intersection of media and technology.  The MMR team has embraced the digital tools, with strong participation from the airstaff – especially morning icons, Preston & Steve – right up to Greater Media’s corner office.  This morning, Bill brings home the […]

Back in September, we wrote a post about the Obama campaign’s use of radio.  Now as it turns out, radio may end up being the key game-changer in this seemingly endless election campaign. If you read Politico, you’re obviously a political geek who checks updated polls every day, follows every press conference, and knows precisely where […]

Regular JacoBLOG reader – and commenter – Mike Anthony gave us a provocative link earlier this week that struck me as a catalyst for some weekend thinking. It comes from GigaOM’s Matthew Ingram, and it started the wheels turning.  As Mike noted, “The simple things matter – such as giving users something that serves their […]

A recent article in TUAW (The Unofficial Apple Weblog) took a look at a study from Flurry about mobile app loyalty and usage.  It says a great deal about how consumers use mobile apps, and it’s worthy of your attention – especially if your brand has embraced mobile. Techsurvey8 offered a great deal of information about mobile […]

The news that Apple showed the door to Scott Forstall, the guy who was in charge of the company’s mobile software initiatives, is a reminder that even the best companies make mistakes. In the case of Apple, it is the infamous story of how their troubled maps software replaced the ubiquitous Google Maps in iOS […]

Last week, WRIF programmer Mark Pennington sent me a link to a promotional “trailer” for AC/DC’s Beyond The Thunder documentary. The film itself is a whole other story because it is an amazing work in progress by a couple of AC/DC fans who are on a mission to show how the band’s power and influence […]

These days, we’re all engaging in content marketing.  That’s the essence of this blog.  You’ll notice no advertising along the columns or at the top of today’s post.  That’s because our blog’s goal has never had anything to do with increasing revenue – directly. JacoBLOG – and a lot of the social and digital activity that companies generate […]

I have been amused by some of the analyses I’m reading in the trades lately about how radio’s TSL is slipping and the culprit is….(drum roll)…mobile phones!  The most recent was Inside Radio’s big headline “Mobile cuts into radio’s TSL.” Maybe we should ask the NAB to see what they can do to convince the consumer […]

Today’s post is NSFW (or at least for some workplaces).  The title is an indicator of the main thrust of today’s message, so act accordingly.  But without the S-word, the post gets lost in translation.  OK, so much for the caveats…now enjoy.  So there Paul and I were – doing our best to finish the […]

Yesterday, Apple’s CEO Tim Cook and company got on stage in San Jose to talk about the company’s progress and to showcase their new products, specifically the iPad Mini. These are highly anticipated events because Apple has become famous since the Steve Jobs era for dazzling the tech community – and all of America – with the […]

You hear a lot about storytelling these days, but what does it mean and how can you incorporate this ancient art into how your station brands? All this matters because even Arbitron has come full circle on the power of branding in PPM.  If you remember at its beginnings, the conventional wisdom was that branding […]

We’re all working harder these days to keep up with the extra work and pressure.  Sometimes when night falls and you close your eyes, it’s tough to fall asleep. I don’t know about you, but over the last few nights, my head has hit the pillow and I’ve been thinking about heptagrams. In case you […]

Oh, the joys of living in Detroit.  We are consistently a topic at the Presidential and Vice-Presidential debates, we have an ascending baseball team, and we are still the center of the universe when it comes to all things automotive. On the heels of Tim Davis’ great post yesterday about the importance of the User […]

Jacobs Media’s Tim Davis is truly a believer in “the experience.”  And in today’s post, he digs deep to explain that the value of a great user interface falls short if the content isn’t there.  As broadcasters work hard to craft digital platforms that complement their “mother ships,” this post is must reading.  Hope you […]

In an effort to launch Techsurvey9 before the first station goes “All Christmas,” Jacobs Media is announcing that we are officially in sign-up mode for our January 2013 survey. Our new study comes on the heels of its predecessor – Techsurvey8 – the biggest study ever conducted in radio. 170 stations 57,300+ responses More than […]