The Jacobs Media Blog

We’re happy to have Greater Media’s Buzz Knight joing us for a guest blog today: Recently, the New York Times‘ Business section featured a compelling piece titled "Good Luck with that Broken iPod" written by Joe Nocera.  The crux of the article was a great reminder about the vital importance in our radio world about […]

The Arctic Monkeys?  I know, I know, we’ve been fooled before, but give their new single a listen.  This is a Brit band that is off to an incredible start across the pond.  Nirvana?  The Knack?  Or something altogether different? At a time when Active/Mainstream Rock is looking for something good and different – that […]

What an amazing Super Bowl success for the City of Detroit.  A good time was had by all – even the media, and the city acquitted itself nicely.  There were so many "greatest hits," it’s hard to know where to begin, from Bob Seger joining Kid Rock on stage for "Rock N’ Roll Never Forgets" […]

Today’s blog entry is from Jacobs Media’s Keith Cunningham: I just got done participating in a very painful, 18-minute phone-poll about some upcoming California elections (Secretary of State, Controller, etc).  The guy doing the poll could barely read, he mixed up words frequently, his voice wasn’t clear, I had a hard time following along and […]

After what seems like years of positive, glowing reviews, satellite radio – especially Sirius – is under fire from a variety of sources. Item 1:  The new cover story of Barron’s, "Don’t Bet On Howard."  It’s worth the $4 cover price to read this insightful analysis of the Sirius financial reality.  This isn’t one writer’s […]

MSNBC contributor, James Sullivan, recently wrote a great piece about how consumers are finding out about new pop music these days.  His point?  That exposure to new music has become fragmented, unlike the old days when America first heard new music collectively on the radio.  The advent of iPods, mp3 files, satellite radio, and even […]

The good news?  A BtoB survey reveals that three-of-five marketing execs will spend more ad dollars this year. The bad news? Nearly three-fourths say they’ll increase Internet spending.The bad news?  Eight in ten plan no change in their broadcast spending. The interesting news?  One-quarter of budgets will be spent on some form of direct marketing. […]

Back last summer, we sent out an advisory to client stations in Stern markets about the opportunity for morning shows to pick up listening.  We reasoned that the best estimates for Stern’s Sirius signups were in the 20-25% range.  Turn those numbers upside down and 75-80% of Stern’s listeners are shopping for a new morning […]

It’s been very interesting for us Detroiters watching Hall of Fame coach, Larry Brown, struggle in New York with the Knicks this year.  As you may know, Brown has always been very nomadic as a coach, surprisingly leaving teams at times that just seem illogical or even strange to fans and other basketball observers. But […]

It seems like just days ago when Howard Stern was on terrestrial radio, providing his show to the nation for free.  Here we are, in late January, and it’s amazing how satellite radio can suck away presence. To that end, Preston & Steve (WMMR/Philadelphia) have run boards like these for months now.  And as you […]

It’s official…sort of.  In a survey on Beliefnet, "a multi-faith spirituality media company and online community," Jesus’ iPod would contain a variety of different music types.  Of course, Christian Rock is in the lead (14%), but Classic Rock is a close behind (11%), perhaps proving that for some, Eric Clapton is indeed God (or maybe […]

Since the dawn of record guys, there’s been incredible paranoia about songs and albums being "leaked."  Fast-forward to 2006, and "leakage" isn’t a bad thing.  It’s an integral part of viral marketing. Case in point:  the Bud Light History spots for Super Bowl XL (am I allowed to say that?).  This spot is making the […]

I’m pleased to welcome back Saga Norfolk’s President/GM Dave Paulus for a guest blog: We get burdened on a daily basis with those impossible demographic requests from agencies and clients that can’t get it….they just can’t change out of that old "demo box." Here’s an interesting real life example for you to consider: I was […]

The new formats are now becoming public as broadcasters begin to divvy up their new multicast stations.  A few observations… First, radio operators are moving quickly on this initiative – perhaps a little too quickly.  We have spoken with broadcasters who have been forced to rush into making decisions about their new stations, with little […]

While the radio business continues to struggle under the attack of new media, something very interesting occurred this week – Google bought a radio company, dMarc Broadcasting.  Google spokespeople indicate that this is an effort by the Internet company to expand its advertising reach into other media.  But radio?  Old media?  Bricks and mortar?  Towers […]

Actually, I’m simply telling you about a free cup of Starbucks, which I found out about when I clicked a simple banner ad for the company on a newspaper web site.  It’s so simple, "purple" ("hey, free coffee, and I don’t have to do anything"), simple (a cup of coffee), and buzzworthy (I’m telling you, […]

Guilty. Of not listening to my kids.  They keep hearing new bands on TV shows, causing them to find them and buy them on iTunes.  It took a New York Times article to detail the pervasiveness of this trend, as a "Cold Case" episode is using/licensing nine Springsteen songs (from the ’80s) as the soundtrack.  […]

The synergy of commercial-free, Jack-FM, and a hit television show came together last weekend.  It surrounded the debut of "24," Fox-TV’s addictive episodic drama, and its protagonist Jack Bauer. On Sunday, when the show debuted, five Jack stations went commercial-free for 24 hours – a buzzworthy event that Fox gladly sponsored.  And remember – this […]

Jacobs Media’s Ralph Cipolla chimes in with a guest blog today: Howard’s move has been talked and analyzed to death over the last 16 months.  But now it’s here, and the present inevitably sharpens perspective, even in the absence of more data.  In the coming year, we’ll see new satellite subscription figures, PUR percentages, and […]

I’ve done a number of calls with programmers and managers over the past several weeks as they grapple with the issue of how to strategically select new HD side channels.  Some groups are thinking of formats that would complement their "motherships" (like the Greater Media cluster here in Detroit).  Others are thinking about playing defense […]