The Jacobs Media Blog

What a strange turn of events we have witnessed in morning radio during the past two years…and past two months. Go back to the aftermath of the Opie & Anthony St. Patrick’s debacle.  They are exiled from terrestrial radio, while Howard Stern maintains his dominance. Eventually, O&A have no choice but to sign on with […]

What a strange turn of events we have witnessed in morning radio during the past two years…and past two months. Go back to the aftermath of the Opie & Anthony St. Patrick’s debacle.  They are exiled from terrestrial radio, while Howard Stern maintains his dominance. Eventually, O&A have no choice but to sign on with […]

Two-and-a-half years after we developed the NeoRadio concept, key elements continue to show up in mainstream advertising and marketing.  The "CGM" phenomenon – "consumer-generated media" – is everywhere, as more and more big brands rely on customers for input and ideas.  Everyone’s developed "advisory boards," something that Jacobs Media clients have been deeply involved with […]

Over the 4th of July holiday, I took a trip to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  Despite having lived in this state most of my life, I had never taken the trek over the Mackinac Bridge into that wilderness known as The UP. Like I do for every vacation, I took my Treo phone, along with my […]

Over the 4th of July holiday, I took a trip to Michigan’s Upper Peninsula.  Despite having lived in this state most of my life, I had never taken the trek over the Mackinac Bridge into that wilderness known as The UP. Like I do for every vacation, I took my Treo phone, along with my […]

Dave Beasing found an article in Wednesday’s New York Times (free subscription required) that has our office buzzing (hey, it’s a holiday week).  It’s about a new beta test Google service called "Trends."  It’s based on the number of searches for various words, and it allows users to compare terms – like NASCAR versus NBA, […]

There’s an incredible story floating around the blogosphere (and now network TV) about how it took over 20 minutes for a customer to cancel an AOL account.  Vincent Ferrari taped his call with an AOL service rep who really put him through the paces. For radio, it’s simply a matter of switching stations or punching […]

The soap opera that is formally known as "passive measurement" rages on, with radio companies squabbling like kids on a playground.  As Clear Channel arm wrestles with the other radio corporations, you can almost hear phrases like "My ball, my rules" and "You’re not the boss of me" being shouted in emails flying around the […]

The entries have been meticulously tallied, we have reviewed the rules with "legal," and after our team of experts has reviewed all of the responses we received to our "Guess the Aging Boomers" contest from last week, we have a winner. Edison Research’s Larry Rosin had the most correct guesses, missing only seven (and we’ll […]

What does a major market Rock station like WMMR do for the summer?  Pull off a mega concert series?  Give away Harleys?  Run a contest around a beach house?  Or how about sponsoring an entire Little League?  In this case, the Drexel Hill Little League. For a station that does everything in a big way, […]

Wouldn’t any radio station like to have the vibe that Swedish furniture maker/retailer IKEA has earned?  One of their stores just opened here in a local suburb, and the reaction was nothing short of amazing.  In a market that is rife with unemployment and bad news, the IKEA opening was bigger than any "Star Wars" […]

We hear it all the time:  "you must create content for this new media world."  And we actually think that’s what we’re doing.  But check out Rolling Stone’s new media efforts to support their 1,000th issue.  There is great archiving (all the covers from the past), podcasts (artists sharing their memories), the "inside behind-the-scenes scoop" […]

A new study shows that about one-third of big companies in the U.S. and the U.K. hire employees to read company emails.  They say they’re guarding against various risks in the process, but the bottom line is that most employees have no clue this is going on. Yet, you’d be surprised at the number of […]

Today, it’s a Guest Blog from WRIF Music Director, Mark Pennington.  The Greater Media stations here in Detroit have been very active with HD Radio.  Each of the three stations has had HD2 stations on the air for the better part of a year, promoting them aggressively.  In this blog entry, Mark talks about what’s […]

Today, we’re joined for a guest blog from Jacobs Media Senior Consultant Dave Beasing: Americans will bet on anything.  The LA Times (6/5/06) offers the latest proof with a report that (illegal) online bookies are accepting wagers about Opening Weekend Movie Box Office.  Hey, why not?  People in this town have been betting their careers […]

The disconnects between the advertising industry and radio continue to boggle the mind – and raise questions about the difficulties radio faces for getting back into the game.  In this space, we discussed the absurd demise of a radio franchise – the Oldies format – all because it cannot be sold due to aging demographics. […]