The Jacobs Media Blog

In an interesting confluence of events, a couple of often beaten up broadcast entities had a good week.  Both Arbitron and their PPM ratings, and iBiquity and their HD Radio product, each came away with a few points in the win column. For Arbitron, it started with the Attorneys General of both New York and […]

Actually, in Subaru's case, their sales actually increased by 1% in '08 (through November), in the midst of the worst slump in memory for automakers.  Living here in Detroit and witnessing the people-impact of the Detroit 3's strategy and actions generates even more respect for Subaru's accomplishment.   So what has this mid-market car brand actually […]

What does it say about the state of creativity when the Christian Science Monitor reports that network TV has become too safe?  Citing the lack of breakout, cutting edge programming, writer Gloria Goodale calls out television's powers-that-be for not taking chances on bold new shows.  Even during a time when viewers are staying home and […]

What does it say about the state of creativity when the Christian Science Monitor reports that network TV has become too safe?  Citing the lack of breakout, cutting edge programming, writer Gloria Goodale calls out television's powers-that-be for not taking chances on bold new shows.  Even during a time when viewers are staying home and […]

Our good friend, Greater Media's Buzz Knight, is spending this week at the Consumer Electronics Show in Vegas.  This puts him in a very small elite group of radio guys, as he discovers what the rest of the world is doing.  While news reports from CES describe a more muted environment because of the economy, […]

Today's guest blog comes from our Internet Strategies Director, Tim Davis, who advises us that the Boomer generation has very strong purchasing power, and should not be overlooked. Most people who work and focus on the digital space spend their days (and nights) thinking about the younger generations – Tweens, Gen Y, and even Gen […]

News item: New York FM ranks 34th – In Atlanta Because of heavy use of weighting in PPM, four panelists gave WBLS, New York an average weekly cume of 23,300 listeners in Atlanta when they went to the Big Apple for Thanksgiving.  The following week New York's "Power" WWPR-FM had a similar fate.  PPM critics […]

As of this writing, our 15th iPhone app has rolled out, generating thousands of downloads, and I'm finding myself listening to more streaming radio than ever.  Of course, new media is a learning process, and I'm absorbing lots of new material.  Please permit me to share a few takeaways with you. 1. The sound of your […]

Less than two years ago when it was first released, the iPhone cost early adopters $600.  Now, these devices are just under $200, and Apple is doing everything it can to make them mass appeal mobile gadgets. Last week's announcement that iPhones will be available in Wal-Mart stores changes the game, as the marketing rapidly moves […]

One of the things I've learned from incessantly watching CNBC over the years is how totally wrong most of the pundits have been about the stock market, oil prices, the economy… and well, you name it. So when this report from FitchRatings came out recently predicting media spending trends for '09, I read it with an […]

    Have a very Happy and Safe New Year!  The JacoBlog will return on Monday, January 5.

As we come off a tough political election campaign, the subject of "attack ads" is a constant in post-election analysis.  Did either McCain or Obama's attacks hit the mark, did they backfire, and who did the best job of playing offense and fending off attacks?   While I'll leave that discussion to you political junkies, let's […]

Jacobs Media's Paul Jacobs provides us with insight on how the RAB and local broadcasters can become proactive and compete for shrinking newspaper advertising dollars. Consider these two headlines from earlier this month: December 16, 2008 – Detroit Newspapers Announce Suspension of Home Delivery Four Days/Week December 17, 2008 – The RAB Announces "Imagine A […]

Wishing you and yours a very happy holiday season!  The JacoBlog will return on Monday, December 29.

"You must be the change you wish to see in the world." – Mahatma Gandhi "We are the change that we seek." – Barack Obama Two different philosophers, decades apart.  Same message. If we keep waiting for our industry to change for the better, we're going to be waiting a long time.  The traditional leadership […]

The following Charles Osgood "viewpoint" comes from our friend, Laura Martinez, of Westwood One. The Osgood File. I'm Charles Osgood. Most meteorological events, including the tropical depressions that become hurricanes, happen independent of what we do or don't do.  We can track them, try to forecast them and get out of their way when possible. […]

When you work in radio, sometimes you begin to think that you're working in the most difficult environment ever.  But if you think about some of the unbelievable things that have occurred within the past few weeks in other industries, you might conclude it's just as bad – if not worse everywhere. Consider these examples… […]

Mark's a good friend and a great observer of the media landscape.  But in this morning's blog, he disparages the individualized radio station iPhone application, and instead, lauds RadioShiftTouch, an app that he says can get any station anywhere – for $9.99.  So, you can get thousands of radio stations – terrestrial, streaming, etc. on […]

It is fascinating that as the recession deepens, and media outlets big and small recalibrate their losses, radio continues to look good – in certain metrics.  New national Arbitron data indicates that while TSL has dropped, overall listenership in the U.S. has jumped from 232 to 234 million this year to last.  That's not a […]

Paul Jacobs, vice president and general manager of Jacobs Media, advises radio there is an opportunity to generate huge revenues due to one of our competitors changing their business model. Everyone in radio is tired of being battered in the press for being part of "old" media.  Maybe another word for "old" is "over," meaning that in […]