The Jacobs Media Blog

When the going gets tough, the tough find reveneue somewhere.

These days, radio’s directors of sales have to creatively divine money wherever they can – even in unconventional places.  But when you’ve got ample audience in unpopular demographics, you’d better make the best of a challenging situation. A very popular brand you all know has launched a slick media campaign unashamedlly targetting mature adults. If they’re right, there will be important lessons here for radio broadcasters.

Playing the ratings and revenue game has become precarious for radio in 2024 – whether you work for commercial or public radio stations. In an environment where ad dollars are increasingly hard to come by and the competition seems to be expanding exponentiallly, radio organizations need innovative solutions to traditional challenges. The answer may be puzzling in more ways than one. But, of course, that’s the game we’re playing. (Click “read more” to escape from my lame puns.)

The relationship between perception and reality is a very familiar one to most radio veterans. And new data from our recently released Techsurvey 2024 reveal a gap between radio’s perceived and actual weekly reach. Today’s post takes a deep dive into broadcast radio’s challenge to tell its story as the media environment gets congested with even more choices. As radio struggles to fight for listeners and ad dollars, this equation becomes more critically important.

Yesterday’s industry presentation of Techsurvey 2024 seemed to be the right data at the right time. But to get a sense from YOU about what stood out, I asked webinar attendees to tell me their “one thing” takeaway from the study. The response was excellent, as you’ll read in today’s post.

Ratings have always been a key barometer that explains the health of formats, and to a degree, broadcast radio itself. That’s why a deeper look at ratings for the last month or last year is instructive and telling. It’s been hard to miss the unmistakable rise of Christian radio – not just in some markets, but as a national trend. Today’s blog talks about why this is happening and what it may mean for all of radio.

On Thursday, I have the pleasure of presenting the top-line findings of Techsurvey 2024 to the radio industry. This year, 31,800+ core listeners weighed in on media, technology, AI, and of course, their perceptions of AM/FM radio. This is our 20th survey, and perhaps one of the most revealing and actionable. In today’s post, I broke down three current media stories in the news, and integrated corresponding TS 24 data to help bring them into focus for broadcasters. At this precarious time for radio, we need numbers and findings we can rely on. Let’s try to figure it out together.

Are you the kind of person who focuses on the music, the lyrics, or both about equally? If you’ve been paying attention to those words and not just the melodies, you may have noticed song lyrics have gotten simpler and more repetitive during the past several years. And now a major research study confirms exactly that. Another problem with song lyrics is that listeners often have problems understanding them, and today’s blog post looks at why we may be seeing the correct lyrics showing up in our car dashboards very soon.

Banks are always running promotions, trying to lure us into opening new accounts. Usually, they offer up toasters as thank-you gifts, or other small kitchen appliances. But now a regional bank is dangling a can’t-miss incentive: free radio campaigns on a top-rated local station to support small businesses in the community. The bank thinks it will generate new business accounts, while supporting hometown companies. Hit “read more” for the details on this clever campaign that could work anywhere.

As the credits being to roll here in Las Vegas, brother Paul Jacobs – the glass-half-full-one – grabs the keyboard to find not only a bright side, but a strategy for the months ahead in what has already proved to be a challenging year. Time to turn those frowns upside-down with an inspirational guest post.

Dateline:  The NAB in Las Vegas
The scene:  The bar in both the Encore and Wynn (you can’t tell ’em apart) is teaming with radio’s C-suite executives, hangers-on, job seekers, and a lot of tourists wondering what the fuss is all about.
The big topic:  AI, what else?

When it comes to radio, there’s often a fine line between a fan…and a fanatic. But what about “stans?” Who are these hardcore fans, and how can radio stations harness their passion and enthusiasm? For inspiration on a Monday, let’s turn to one of the most accomplished rappers since the genre began. If anyone understands the “stan” mindset, Eminem sure does.

We always hear “Radio needs to do a better job tellling its story.” But where would the creative come from and how could broadcasters pay for it – especially in this economy? OK, here’s some back of the napkin math for you.

If you’re a regular reader of JacoBLOG, you know the car dashboard is ever-changing. And because there’s so little standardization across automakers, you need a guide to be able to determine how dashboards in the most popular makes and models are equipped. And now there is one. Quu has just released its first annual visuals report of the top 100 best-selling cars. It’s an amazing piece of work that provides programmers, marketers, sellers, and digital pros the guidance they need to optimize the car dashboard. I break it all down for you in today’s post. So buckle up, and let’s go for a ride.

Yesterday, it was a post about commercial radio and regaining its muscle memory. As I teased in the post, there’s much to be said – and debated – about the state of public radio, also at an infection point. It does have amazing DNA, great bones. But can it find those values…again?

On Monday, a fascinating experiment is about to happen on the radio – the Total Eclipse, visible to 99% of Americans. How will radio play it? Just another day or something truly fun, special, and different?