The Jacobs Media Blog

Hey, it's Friday, and it's a beautiful day.  Enough hard work and serious thinking for one week. Let's kick back, whip out our mobile devices, and play a little game.  Talk to you Monday.    P.S. On Wednesday (5/19) at 1:00 p.m. Eastern Time, I will be participating in a free webinar, presenting the key […]

Our mobile application division – jacAPPS – was fortunate to be included in a recent article in the New York Times devoted to the exploding world of in-car audio entertainment.  Written by John Quain, the piece focused on how the dashboard is becoming the epicenter of automotive attention. <CLICK HERE TO READ NEW YORK TIMES […]

Our mobile application division – jacAPPS – was fortunate to be included in a recent article in the New York Times devoted to the exploding world of in-car audio entertainment.  Written by John Quain, the piece focused on how the dashboard is becoming the epicenter of automotive attention. <CLICK HERE TO READ NEW YORK TIMES […]

At the recent British Columbia Broadcasters Association conference, Mark Ramsey captured a few snippets of media pundit Bob Garfield's brash explanation for why broadcast media is in trouble (Bob used a more graphic term).  The line that caught my ear: "You don't know shit about your audience." While Bob went on to offer something of […]

At the recent British Columbia Broadcasters Association conference, Mark Ramsey captured a few snippets of media pundit Bob Garfield's brash explanation for why broadcast media is in trouble (Bob used a more graphic term).  The line that caught my ear: "You don't know shit about your audience." While Bob went on to offer something of […]

While reading the various industry trades and assorted media and digital related emails I receive every day, the contrast between a couple of them hit me right between the eyes. In a recent Radio-Info column, sales consultant Lindsay Wood Davis called out sales managers for all those "stinking, rotten deals" that have been cut in […]

In focus and L.A.B. groups over the past year, I continue to be impressed by how many radio listeners enjoy participating, rather than be the passive consumers most have been for their entire lives. Maybe it's the explosion of shows like American Idol, where the whole country can vote for the up and coming stars […]

Throughout this past week, I would like to thank regular readers for indulging this series of posts about Pandora.  If I didn’t believe that Pandora’s ascension was significant, I would not have devoted as much space and thought to this emerging media phenomenon. As I have pointed out over the past several days, Pandora demands […]

No, you didn't read today's post headline incorrectly. The new buzzword in social media is "like" and it will have major implications on the revenue growth of Facebook over the next several years.  For Pandora, it's a new – and explosive -way of growing fans and listeners. On the web, when someone indicates they "like" […]

Yesterday, radio listeners and sports fans alike lost a true icon.  So did we as broadcasters. Ernie Harwell, the voice of the Detroit Tigers, passed away at the ripe old age of 92.  For decades, Ernie was the radio connection to the team, and served as the voice that many of us associate with baseball […]

We’ve been talking about the impact of Pandora this week, so let’s move right to the data. First and foremost, Pandora has emerged as the premier Internet radio station, now amassing more than 50,000,000 sign-ups.  This is significant because as a media source, Pandora now has critical mass.  And its position in Apple products, in […]

All this week, we're talking Pandora.  So permit me to evoke a different medium – film – for a moment.  Maybe you remember Woody Allen’s Zelig back in the ‘80s.  Before there was Photoshop, Woody inserted this character into famous historical scenes.  It was a technical triumph, although not one of his better films.  In […]

There’s been a considerable amount of talk in the industry over the past year or two about Pandora and exactly how broadcast radio should think of them. We’ve devoted several posts to Pandora in this blog, especially after attending a Meet-Up here in the Detroit area late last year.  At that time, Pandora founder, Tim […]

If there was any question about whether major DJs or personalities should invest in mobile applications, the judge and jury have spoken: Available on iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, and even Palm Pre.  (Wonder what kind of phone Oprah uses?) As the press release reads, “With a presence that spans television, print, film and radio, we are […]

If there was any question about whether major DJs or personalities should invest in mobile applications, the judge and jury have spoken: Available on iPhone, Android, BlackBerry, and even Palm Pre.  (Wonder what kind of phone Oprah uses?) As the press release reads, “With a presence that spans television, print, film and radio, we are […]

Forget radio for a moment. I know, it’s hard.  That’s what many of us do 24/7. Surveys like our new Technology Poll are designed to help us better understand how core radio listeners entertain themselves.  But the change that is sweeping our culture – not just our media – transcends any medium, website, or entertainment […]

Any publicity is good publicity, right?  Wrong. And in this case, the name is easy to spell:  D-J Our post on Monday noted how Facebook is absolutely dominating social media, while MySpace has cratered, BuzzFeed puts out a humorous list you don't want to see your name on: 8 Groups of People Who Still Use MySpace Among […]

Just between us, there's a difference between smartphones.  Sure, we can argue about features, aesthetics, carriers, and even costs, but there's more to it than that. Some mobile devices simply generate more DLs – or in this case, app downloads – while others are falling further behind because of their lack of a viable app […]

It's one thing to be a startup – like Foursquare – in the social media space.  It's a whole other thing to be a traditional business – like radio – and try to retrofit your business model to better integrate and serve your changing customer base. There is no better example of this phenomenon than […]

LinkedIn CEO, Jeff Weiner, has spent nearly a year with that business-oriented social media site, which has amassed 65 million users.  While that pales in comparison to Facebook's 400 million members, LinkedIn has made a mark. Personally, it's a site I don't use very often, but then again, I haven't had to look for a real […]