The Jacobs Media Blog

Radio programmers are always looking for a leg up on the competition, and they often use research to try to find it. Back in the early days of my consultancy, we used a handy tool nicknamed “The Grid of Pain.” But that gauge of station performance did not reveal any insights about listener engagement. That’s what on our blog plate this morning – a way to better understand that special connection listeners have with especially enlightened and high-performing stations. It’s a tall order.

Like so many things AM and FM stations once did so well, new music discovery is now the province of music and social apps like Spotify and TikTok. But does it have to be that way? Does radio still have “a job to do” when it comes to uncovering and exposing new music for the masses? After all, if the New York Times can do it, isn’t there a new music role for your station to play? Today’s blog post goes against the grain, as it should be on a Monday. Dig in.

It’s probably been a while since you heard someone say, “There’s an app for that.” It’s not that mobile apps are yesterday’s news, but we haven’t seen innovation in the space for some time now. Perhaps until now. The New York Times has released their standalone app, Audio, and its worthy of every radio person giving it a look. Today’s post gives you the background and rationale behind why standalone apps are still the best way to go.

Resilience, determination, class – three adjectives you might not readily associate with morning radio hosts. But the retirement announcement by Philadelphia icon John DeBella last week conjures up all three – capitalized and in bold. DeBella’s career spans five decades, but is remarkable for so many other reasons. Today’s JacoBLOG looks at a rare example of grace under fire and a commitment to entertaining the locals – whatever it takes.

Just when I thought I’d learned everything there was to learn from Techsurvey 2023 after spending weeks with the data, I learned THIS. From you.

Whatever happened to the Metaverse? Last year, it was being hailed as “the next big thing.” Now, it’s a technology flash in the pan, replaced by A.I., “the next bigger thing.” Today’s post looks at the mad scramble over technology we don’t understand but move forward on anyway. Is there a price to be paid. And if so, what is it?

Sharp observers of the music industry are concerned about a continued lack of hits. But the same thing is happening on the TV side, especially among video streamers like Netflix, Hulu, and Disney+. The media landscape has changed, making it more difficult for new artists to crack through. And now with AI, new music can be made on a laptop by virtually anyone. What impact will this have on the music industry, and by extension, radio? Dig in.

In a tight economy, brand managers and marketers have to be agile. ” where the fish are” is challenging when many competitors chase the same target audience. That’s why a new product launch and “wink-wink” ad campaign is worth a look. It’s targeting forgotten consumers many ignore – at their own peril.

Radio programmers are always in search of P1s, listeners who spend more time with their stations than any others. But a new research study suggests that loyalty may have little to do with time-spent listening, and much more to do with how stations can meet an audience’s emotional needs. And new data from Techsurvey 2023 backs that up. These insights are just a click away.

The pro basketball and hockey playoffs are heating up. That means more locker room celebrations. It also means those painful press conferences where the captain or coach of the losing team has to explain what happened. As radio competitors, we can often learn more from those difficult Q&A sessions than from the champagne showers or victory parades. And that was the case over the weekend where the team that was shockingly upset by an underdog had a lot to say we can all take to heart.

The AM radio controversy rages on – sort of. Various groups are offended by AM’s omission in cars, but to date, broadcasters lack unity in their mission to make their case to automakers – and the public. Today’s post takes a tough look at how the dashboard war is shaping up, and what the radio industry can do if/when they come after FM. Stay tuned.