The Jacobs Media Blog

The Super Bowl cometh, and once again, it’s a battle of superstars. The Chiefs’ Patrick Mahomes is the face of his team, but he may also be the poster boy for the whole NFL. His intense promotion might make you wonder why radio broadcasters don’t lean into their superstar franchise players – great shows wand hosts – with marketing of their own. Call me crazy, but to turn around those “nobody listens to the radio” naysayers, a little marketing of radio’s stars might be just the thing to shake up the local media business.

If this photo of a minor league baseball park somewhere in America reminds you even a bit of your radio station’s website, you are not alone. A new research study conducted by Storyblok among 6,000 online shoppers in the U.S. and Europe conducted this past November will have a familiar ring to it.  All told, […]

In a mere five days, that AI phenomenon known as ChatGPT achieved an impressive one million downloads. Today, I put it to the test, asking it how radio broadcasters could achieve higher ratings and build better brands. You may be surprised by the cyber-advice it gave me in just the blink of a cyborg’s eye. Radio will use these tools this year, so understanding how they work and what they can do will be essential in keeping up and staying ahead.

A hot new trend in corporate America – and now in radio – is rebranding. It means changing out or redesigning a logo or even the brand’s entire identity. Who’s doing it, how’s it working, and what’s the one iteration of it you should avoid at all costs? Literally.

We frequently hear the question, “What is your digital strategy?” But for radio broadcasters, the Holy Grail is the confluence of the old and new, the traditional and the digital, the terrestrial product and the stream and its outlets As companies seek their solutions that will generate profits and move the stock price, certain historic, time-honored truths continue to re-emerge. Radio broadcasters would be wise to deliver on their message.

These days, it’s not uncommon to hear someone utter the cringeworthy phrase: “No one listens to the radio anymore.” But take comfort, radio types, because a highly popular global brand is going through the same uncomfortable ordeal – and it’s fighting back with marketing aimed at turning those perceptions around. For a first look at this campaign, click here, and let’s get the new week started.

While radio programming has become a more technical endeavor the decades, one thing hasn’t changed; basic age and sex demographics that don’t do justice to the complexity and richness of audience affinity groups. Now a music analytics company has developed exciting analytics in the form of personas to better describe target audience groups. Today’s blog post gives you a good luck at the five music personas, along with a quick quiz to determine which one you fall into. Game?

What IS local news and why does it matter? Is it school board meetings, cultural activities, election coverage, or a combination of these things – and more? While many mainstream media companies struggle with their news budgets, a surprising new group of journalists is ready to grab the golden ring and make local journalism their driving force. And some of them may be living in your home.

Are we headed into a recession? What does that portend for the local retail landscape, especially as we come out of COVID. Paul Jacobs takes a look at the current environment, and lays out a strategic plan that hopefully gets the juices flowing – and hopefully, the cash registers ringing.

It’s still early January, but rock n’ roll heaven is one occupant larger with the passing of guitar god Jeff Beck. His passing is a reminder of the music’s transcendent appeal not just on the radio airwaves but our entire entertainment culture. Today’s post bring you three stories from that well-traveled Classic Rock highway.

It’s every programmer’s dilemma. An on-air talent has been let go, and the question of engineering that departure is on the table. Does talent get a last show to say good-bye, offering some closure? Or is it always better to simply sever the relationship, get a replacement behind the mic and just move on? Just like when Netflix or a TV network cancels a once-popular show, there are decisions to make. So how will you make them?

In business, we’re taught to focus on “best practices,” the tried-and-true tricks of the trade with a proven track record of winning. But in our fast-paced world of media and tech companies, studying “worse practices” – what not to do – can be even more instructive. During the past six months, we’ve been given a cautionary tale that can help any brand avoid the sand traps, speed bumps, and strategic black holes. It’s a perfect topic for a Monday morning.

For some businesses – and lots of radio stations – January has the reputation for being a slow month. Alas, not for Jacobs Media.  Last week we not only made the trek to Vegas for CES, but launched Techsurvey 2023 during the same week.  A cliché, perhaps, but a company is only as good as […]