The Jacobs Media Blog

The news that we lost Mom and Dad in the same week was not lost on me. Barbara Billingsley, the Beaver and Wally’s maternal guide, went first.  And she was quickly followed in TV heaven by Tom Bosley, Richie Cunningham’s papa. How much great advice was dispensed over the years by these two parental icons […]

The news that we lost Mom and Dad in the same week was not lost on me. Barbara Billingsley, the Beaver and Wally’s maternal guide, went first.  And she was quickly followed in TV heaven by Tom Bosley, Richie Cunningham’s papa. How much great advice was dispensed over the years by these two parental icons […]

Enjoy watching the video of the #140 Conference live from Detroit via Ustream.  Feel free to share the link on your Twitter & Facebook pages as well: https://www.ustreamtv/channel/detroit140conf (#140conf is the Twitter hashtag) Click here for the full schedule of sessions – each only last about 10 minutes, so it runs quick!

The news that Zenith Media is merging its print and digital divisions is another step toward media integration – from the advertiser standpoint. That signals that content creators are going to have to increasingly think the same way.  As Zenith’s SVP and Managing Editor of Digital John Nitti points out, “For us to go to […]

  Something very special is happening here in Detroit tomorrow.  And it has nothing to do with “Detroit 187.” Jeff Pulver, founder of the 140 Characters Conference is bringing  the show to the Motor City.  And those of us who live and work here couldn’t be prouder to be a part of it.   I wrote […]

I was recently involved in a PPM conference with a radio cluster management team along with other consultants.  The mission was to get to the heart of PPM and help this group determine best practices and strategies. The amazing part about this two-day event was that it took two days (!).  The second part is […]

You may not know Reed Hastings by name, but chances are you’ve used his product. Netflix.  It totally revolutionized video rental, essentially putting Blockbuster out of business. In a recent newspaper blog, Hastings outlined six important lessons for how to manage the digital revolution.  But his advice has little to do with the fourth estate, […]

No, this isn’t a post about cars, Ford Motor Company, or Detroit. It’s about leadership, confidence, and testosterone. A recent profile of Vanguard CEO Bill McNabb in USA Today was an eye-opener. McNabb took over as Vanguard’s chief in ’08.  Two weeks later, Lehman Brothers went belly up, and McNabb was faced with a fork-in-the-road […]

October is a wonderful month – the color changes here in the Midwest, along with the baseball playoffs and World Series, college and pro football, and of course the start of the NHL season. It’s also the time when many public radio stations are actively involved in “pledge” – the incessant fundraising that keeps them […]

In my travels and conference calls, many of the same questions continue to crop up: (Fill in your format of choice below) How’s the format trending?  How is it working in other PPM markets? What’s the performance difference between diary and PPM? What’s the gender composition of the format? Which age group(s) is most important? […]

Jay Philpott from The Arch in St. Louis, a passionate radio pro, wrote me this note the other day, and I thought you might appreciate reading our exchange: Hi, Fred, I was discussing Bob Rivers' (pictured) departure from KZOK with a friend of mine, it's really a sad thing and forced me to accept what […]

Maybe you’ve read about a new search enhancement from Google – or perhaps you’ve used it and maybe didn’t realize what was happening. Google Instant begins to predict what you’re searching for, suggesting search possibilities even before you’re done typing. This has obvious implications on the art and science of managing and manipulating search, especially […]

A number of Jacobs Media clients over the years have heard me make the “X-Men” reference about our professional staff. My theory has always been to hire strong pros with skill sets different from mine – and from each other’s – in order to create and grow a powerful and effective team.  In much the […]

First, thanks to the great SRO crowd we had at “The Radio Show” for our collaboration presentation with Arbitron – “Goin’ Mobile.”  I know we hyped it a lot, but I think the feedback has already told us that this initiative cut through and made an impression. Paul Jacobs was present for every interview, and […]

I had another one of those “aha moments” in radio late last month.  Paul and I were invited to speak at the PRPD conference by our friend, Arthur Cohen. That’s the acronym for Public Radio Program Directors. Yup, an entire three-day conference devoted to issues that impact programmers and station brands.  And attendance was fabulous […]

This morning’s post features guest blogger, Paul Jacobs, fresh from trips to Dallas for the Borrell Local Mobile Advertising Conference, PRPD in Denver, as well as “The Radio Show” in D.C.  Here’s his perspective on monetizing mobile: Last week I attended the Borrell Local Mobile Advertising Conference in Dallas, an event that no one could […]

There’s been some controversy over a New York Newsday TV commercial about that newspaper’s iPad app.    <EMAIL RECIPIENTS: CLICK HERE TO VIEW NEWSDAY IPAD APP COMMERCIAL> The rumor is that Apple has apparently expressed discontent with its product being destroyed in front of millions of eyes.  Maybe in Cupertino, that's a big deal, but it […]

It’s already been a busy week for us here at Jacobs Media.  This morning, we’ll be debuting “Goin’ Mobile,” the ethnographic study we designed and put together with Arbitron.  We’re looking forward to seeing many of you in the audience at “The Radio Show.” Earlier in the week, Paul participated in a mobile panel with […]

Reinvention is always a challenge, especially for traditional “we’ve always done it that way” institutions. That probably describes the Television Bureau of Advertising, an organization founded in the early 1950’s that is trying to rebrand itself and simultaneously, re-establish its value to both TV stations and advertisers. Step one is to start using the same […]

While reading The New York Times last weekend, I ran across the story about Jeff Zucker leaving NBC – in the “Business Day” section.  And it caught me because Zucker is the guy who’s been at NBC since he was 26 years-old, produced the Today show, and was a big force behind the network’s success […]