The Jacobs Media Blog

This graphic by Ji Lee literally jumped at me from this past Sunday's New York Times.  It asks an important question as many Americans grapple with lowered expectations, a smaller nest egg, and ratcheted down dreams.  It made me wonder how many formerly happy radio people are now asking themselves this question, whether it's been […]

One of the nice things about writing a blog is reading other blogs, and looking at the different ways the people express themselves and their observations in this space.  Eric Holmes in our office turned me on to “Marketing Nirvana.”  It’s a blog written by Mario Sundar, an unabashed Apple fan and the chief blogger […]

As the radio sales environment gets more precarious, and advertisers take pot shots at just about every format and station, I continue to marvel at how Classic Rock is often overlooked and underrated.   Classic Rock is America's music.  It's mainstream, center-lane stuff, enjoyed and appreciated by several generations. But don't take my word for it.  […]

The beauty of America's biggest sporting event each year is the post-analysis that always occurs – not for the game, but for the advertising and marketing.  But when you get beyond the fact that the Doritos spot with the snow globes was the most popular in much of the viewer voting, the big winner may […]

In the midst of all the layoffs in radio, there's a group of people who have been almost totally ignored – those that didn't get fired. While our sympathies go out to the unemployed, many of whom are struggling to find a place in a rapidly changing radio industry, let's take a moment to consider […]

Amidst all the other angst, anxiety, and hand-wringing going on in radio at this time, many Rock and Classic Rock stations, in particular, are looking at their fall numbers and wondering what happened? For long-time Jacobs Media clients, it's no mystery.  We've tackled this issue before, in great detail.  Six years ago, Ralph Cipolla and […]

Amidst all the other angst, anxiety, and hand-wringing going on in radio at this time, many Rock and Classic Rock stations, in particular, are looking at their fall numbers and wondering what happened? For long-time Jacobs Media clients, it's no mystery.  We've tackled this issue before, in great detail.  Six years ago, Ralph Cipolla and […]

 …Bruce Springsteen & The E Street Band!

Or capturing the vibe.  Or breaking your station out of that "every day's the same day" mold. Pepsi did it with this spot – "My Generation" – which resonates with Classic Rockers, and with people of every generation.  The Pepsi logo looks awfully reminiscent of Obama's, too.  But the bottom line is that during a […]

Today's guest blog is from our own Ralph Cipolla regarding the importance of utilizing social networking sites. So, I go on market visits, do the WTDA-importance-of-all-things-tech rant, and often quote Leo Laporte, who said this at Jacobs Media Summit XIII in Austin, TX: "Go back and tell your personalities – if they are not on Facebook, […]

When I read those Dan Brown novels – especially Angels and Demons – I couldn't help but be taken aback by the mystique and history of the Vatican and, of course, the Pope.  But the 21st century reality of his holy highness is that the guy "gets" interconnectedness" and multi-platform communication.  While you may think […]

The Clear Channel "restructuring" last week continued an industry-wide workforce diet that has been taking place for more than a year.  A week doesn't go by where we don't hear from colleagues who have lost their jobs.  And many of them have been top performers.  It's the economy, stupid. No need to get into a […]

New data from Nielsen Online clearly shows that the key hours for viewing web video is while workers are at their desks, Monday through Friday.  The traditional 9-to-5 segment is "prime time" for online video, as the workforce uses their time (and their companies' high-speed connections) to watch everything from YouTube to Hulu to NBC […]

While the specifics of precisely who got axed during this week's Clear Channel "restructuring" are still woefully incomplete, a perusal of the cobbled together lists reveals that sales departments may have taken the biggest hits.  Tom Taylor's "Radio-Info" reports that Bain Capital has a preference toward sales people who have been around a long time.  […]

Jacobs Media's Bill Jacobs provides insight regarding the popularity of iPhones among the middle class. As a not-so-cheap device, there’s a sense that the main people buying iPhones are those who are well-off.  Odds are that’s somewhat true when it comes to smartphones from other manufacturers such as Blackberry, but there’s plenty of evidence that purchases of iPhones […]

While the body count numbers continue to roll in, and AllAccess does the tallying (amazing their server hasn't melted down), the much-rumored Clear Channel cutbacks, layoffs, and axings have finally been announced.  Mark Mays reports it will amount to a 9% reduction in the company's workforce. The fact they chose to hide behind Inauguration Day is […]

While Classic Rock stations argue about whether they should expose a Springsteen track from the much-awaited new album, Working On A Dream, or Triple A's debate whether they should play the single two or three times a day, and Active Rockers ignore it all together, NPR has figured it out.  And in the process, they've […]

Jacobs Media's Keith Cunningham weighs in on the immediacy – and impact – of Social Networking on the news & current events: Think back to last week when US Airways flight 1549 splashed into the Hudson River.  While the heroism of the pilot and rescue workers has dominated the headlines – and deservedly so – […]

We've all been on one side of the desk or the other.  (Some of us have been on both sides.)  The sales manager walks into the PD's office, and the conversation begins.  Could the morning show do a live endorsement?  Or could the afternoon guy make an appearance for a key advertiser?  Or how bad would […]

In the Dow Jones Industrial Average's worst year since the (gasp) Great Depression, two stocks stand out as lone exceptions – Wal-Mart and McDonald's.  Both companies' stock prices actually went up last year.  What can we learn from this finding, and how does it apply to our own businesses? In tough times, consumers run to […]