The Jacobs Media Blog

“Live & local” isn’t just a catch-phrase. It is a bona fide strategy, available to any station in Any Market, USA. The debate about viability for broadcast radio continued throughout 2021, as it likely will in the new year. Today’s “Best of” post provides data and a rationale about why it’s not too late for broadcast radio to embrace “live & local” in the coming year.

COVID has presented tough times for musicians and bands, especially those who aren’t the Foo Fighters or Adele. And for radio stations dependent on a healthy supply of great new music, the past couple years have been challenging. What can we learn about how music is now being exposed and enjoyed that can inform the way we program our stations? To gain more insight, I went back to one of radio’s gurus. And I share those observations with you in today’s “Best of” blog post.

The audio space heated up in 2021, thanks to new players like Clubhouse, as well as continued investment from some of the world’s biggest tech companies. Today’s “Best of” post looks at the audio revolution from many angles. At the time it was written, radio broadcasters were asking lots of questions about how they might participate in this exciting audio megatrend. They still are.

At one point or another, we all get asked “the question.” Would you advise a high school kid to pursue a career in radio? Of course, it’s complicated. Today’s “Best of” blog post is my personal favorite of 2021 – partially because all I had to do was tee it up. It’s about the end of a 45-year radio career. It is eloquent and timely at this time of the year…and our lives. And you might come up with a better answer to “the question.”

“Reinvent Radio” – It’s almost become a mantra at industry conferences, virtual meetups, and strategic meeting. And yet, broadcast radio – year in and year out – sounds pretty much the same. Tech companies – Spotify, Apple, Slacker – have tried their hand at radio, with scant success. In this “Best of” post from the fall, we looked at a new initiative from Amazon – “Project Mic,” their newest attempt to reshape a 100 year-old medium.

How many times have you heard that we’re living in the middle of an audio renaissance – this week? While consumers are enjoying audio from myriad sources – radio, streaming, the podcasts, etc. – the ways in which they engage with and pay attention to audio differs greatly. In today’s “Best of” blog post from this past June, we look at an eye-opening research study that will help you – especially programmers and sellers – gain perspective. This one’s big.

For today’s “Best of” post, it’s a journey back to last February. The Rock and Roll Hall Of Fame had just announced its 2021 nominees. And already, millions of music fans were hacked off. In this sarcastic post, I looked back at some of the Hall’s historically lame choices, with assurances that eventually, your favorite artist will one day be inducted. Until then, there’s always Twitter. And to Fela Kuti fans everywhere (you know who you are), my sincerest apologies.

Understanding a radio station’s “chemistry” – the combination of factors that makes it successful – is a key to surviving and thriving in our highly competitive media landscape. Sixteen years after leaving terrestrial radio, Howard Stern’s legacy is for every station to discover its Brand DNA. And like a simple litmus test, it can often be learned by asking just one simple question. Today’s “Best of” post goes right to the heart of the question. How important is personality to your station – and to radio?

Welcome to “Best of JacoBLOG” for 2021. Today’s journey goes back tot last February, and a post about Harley-Davidson, that venerable Baby Boomer brand, that’s fallen on hard times in recent years. Sales were down-trending long before COVID, and a new CEO has taken over the helm in an effort to turn things around. Today’s “Best of” blog post lists a 6-pack of challenges Harley is facing – and they’ll have a similar ring to what we’re experiencing in radio. Have a beer, get your motor runnin’, and check it out.