The Jacobs Media Blog

    As predicted, the Jack phenomenon is reaching new formats and morphing in new directions.  Today, Emmis signed on HANK-FM in Indianapolis, a Country station that’s been “jacked.”  This is just the beginning, as more and more programmers will invent ways to incorporate some horizontal thinking along with surprise into existing formats.  Or they’ll […]

There’s some good news with those NAB promos.  While some of the artists just don’t sound convincing or engaged, there’s Slash who does the best promo yet.  Radio needs more of these – self-deprecating, entertaining, real.  (Click here to download it). On the other side, AOL Music has just announced the new Springsteen single, “Devils […]

Our "Technology Web Poll" (conducted among Jacobs Media clients) is wrapping up in the next couple of days.  Before it’s over, 20,000 listeners from around the country will weigh in on topics ranging from iPods to streaming to text messaging to satellite radio.  As always, email club members are enthusiastically offering their opinions. But some […]

That’s how CNBC is now referring to the 3-4 p.m. (eastern) hour in an effort to make sure stock-conscious viewers tune in to see how Wall Street ends up.  In truth, this last hour of the trading day is usually quite volatile and there’s often quite a bit of fluctuation before the market closes. But […]

Paul and I met with a guy here in Detroit the other day that got us thinking about radio station displays.  His name is Rick Portwood and he’s the President of a company called Display Group (www.displaygroup.com).  They are one of the Midwest’s biggest display companies, specializing in conventions, meetings, social events, etc.  We’re in […]

Dave Beasing noted that KLOS is now positioning itself as "LA’s #1 Classic Rock Station" so it appears they are indeed committed to being Classic Rock.  There’s a long tradition of this in the business, as former AOR stations like KQRS, KGON, WGRF, and others opted to "age gracefully" with their original demographics.  L.A. still […]

The days of having some guy in a satin jacket drop off great new music at the front desk may be a thing of the past.  If Rock Radio continues to wait around for great songs to drop in our laps, we may be kidding ourselves, and contributing to our own demise.  The singles mentality […]

With the demise of Arrow in Los Angeles, it’s hard to believe that the second largest market in the country is without a radio station playing the most popular form of rock music. KLOS is a fine all-purpose rocker, but no Classic Rocker?

“Adapt Or Die.”  Tough talk, indeed, from one of our own – Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan.  Keynoting the Kagan Radio/TV Summit, Jeff noted that radio and TV are “under siege” because of new media. Right on the money.  This is one of the reasons why Jacobs Media is involved, as you’re reading this, in an […]

The Alternative dialogue rages this week in The Sands Report, as Jacobs Media has an opportunity to comment on some of the big issues affecting the format.  If you’d like to read those comments, click the link below.  If you are unaware of it, The Sands Report was created and edited by former Live 105 […]

The immediacy of the Internet has become even more meaningful to me since starting this blog, and our “10 Questions with…” which debuted a couple of months back.  It’s put us in touch with some bona fide luminaries.  Where else can you shoot someone an email, get back a “yes, I’ll do it” response, come […]

Headline from Billboard Airplay Monitor: Kagan Summit:  35 Million Sat Radio Subs by 2010 Maybe it’s time to stop running those XM and Sirius spots?

Last Christmas, we bought our professional staff iPods (in addition to giving out exorbitant cash bonuses).  They all raced home and started ripping CDs and creating their own playlists, and in the process, changing the way they individually consume music. Inspired by his new toy, our Ralph Cipolla wrote a great 4-page memo about cool […]

At the root of it, I think all of us radio people (and that includes sales reps as well) grew up wanting to be in a rock band.  There’s a great story in Sunday’s New York Times (free registration required) about a fiftysomething Princeton professor (who is also a poet) bought an electric guitar, got […]

In Saturday’s New York Times (free registration required), there’s a story about a couple of brothers who have started a different kind of sports/pop culture talk show called “Cheap Seats.”  The angle is that the show repurposes ESPN archive footage, and allows the hosts to add commentary.  The noteworthy part is that it airs on […]

Some people don’t understand what NeoRadio is all about.  It’s not a format – it’s a way of interfacing with customers – or in radio’s case, our audiences.  This “listeners first” philosophy is the cornerstone of NeoRadio. That’s why it’s important to realize that Neo thinking goes beyond soliciting listener input on programming issues.  Our […]

Why is new rock having so much trouble getting traction?  Clearly, the record labels have  had trouble telling the stories about new bands.  What do I mean by that? Too often, they’re simply focused on the music, not the back story about the band.  Who are these guys?  And why should we care about them? […]