ABOUT US | OUR TEAM | OUR HISTORY
Fred Jacobs – President
Fred has emerged over the past two decades as one of radio’s leading visionaries. He founded Jacobs Media in 1983, when he had the notion that Album Rock could be fragmented by the creation of the Classic Rock format. Today, Classic Rock stands out as the most successful radio format in the last 20 years.
Prior to launching the company, Fred spent the majority of his time designing and managing research projects as the Director of Research for the Radio and Publishing divisions for Frank N. Magid Associates, a leading research and consulting firm. Later, Fred became Director of Radio Research for the ABC-FM Owned and Operated Radio Stations. From there, Fred gravitated to the station side, becoming program director for legendary WRIF-FM in Detroit, before forming Jacobs Media.
In 2018, Fred was inducted into the National Radio Hall of Fame. He is the first radio consultant to ever receive this honor.
Fred has a Bachelor’s degree from the University of Michigan, and a Master’s degree in Telecommunications from Michigan State University.
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Paul Jacobs – VP/General Manager
Paul is the “suit” in the company, rising up through the sales ranks to become a General Manager of a major market radio station at age 28. After graduating from Michigan State University in 1976 with a BA in Advertising, Paul immediately went to work selling radio for WNIC-FM in Detroit, where he realized one could actually make money selling air.
After a brief stint working for the William A. Robinson marketing services agency in Chicago, where he created campaigns for Philip Morris and Seagram’s, Paul struck gold when he was hired as an Account Executive at WRIF-FM in Detroit. This experience launched his sales management career, and four years later, he became the General Sales Manager for KZEW-FM in Dallas, and ultimately, the General Manager for KHYI-FM, also in Dallas. He was lured home to run WDFX-FM in Detroit, before joining Jacobs Media as its General Manager in 1991.
Along with overseeing our day-to-day operations, Paul’s main contribution has been the addition of sales consulting services. As an expert in all Rock formats, Paul has helped our clients open up new revenue streams by aiding them in their understanding of how to sell, market, and position their formats via sales training seminars. He has conducted hundreds of client presentations on behalf of our clients, and has aided the Ford Motor Company and Procter & Gamble in improving their understanding of the youth market. Paul is a true “format champion” – someone who believes in the power of branding, and developing radio’s inherent assets.
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Bill Jacobs – Consultant
For nearly three decades, Bill has quietly become one of Rock radio’s most respected radio programming professionals. He emerged from Michigan State University with a Master’s degree in Telecommunications, and then became a Research Analyst for the USA Television Network. He later joined Eastman Radio in a similar capacity.
Bill was lured back to radio and joined Jacobs Media as a consultant in 1987. Since then, he has designed the programming for countless radio stations, has contributed to the company’s most impactful radio promotions, and most importantly, has become an expert in the specific needs and challenges facing small and medium market radio stations.
Mike Stern – Consultant
This is Mike’s second time working at Jacobs Media. The first time was nearly 20 years ago when he came to the company after having graduated from Michigan State University and working at a station in Anchorage, Alaska.
Three years with the company taught him a great deal about successful radio programming and helped him launch a career that included overseeing stations in Chicago, Detroit, Denver, Las Vegas, Milwaukee and Dayton. He primarily worked in Alternative and Active Rock, though he was also involved with Heritage and Classic Rock stations as well as Hot AC and the 80’s format.
After leaving his position as Vice President of Programming for Emmis Chicago, Mike began writing about the industry taking positions as News/Talk/Sports Editor for Radio & Records and Editor of Billboard’s Top 40 Update. During that same period, he also began consulting Arbitron’s Programming Services Team and helped launch their twice-weekly column Not Your Average Quarter Hour, which focuses on providing insights for programmers and helping them maximize the value they get from their ratings data.
Finding that he missed working with talent he also launched his own coaching business, Talent Mechanic, where he worked closely with hosts from across a wide range of formats and market sizes, as well as a large number of podcasters hosting shows about a wide range of topics. While looking for new ways to help hosts bring out their true personalities, Mike has taken classes in and performed both stand-up and Improv comedy where he discovered the differences between the two disciplines and how each applies to being on the air.
Jason Hollins – Research Director
As our Research Director, Jason plays a pivotal role in overseeing the strategic and operational aspects of all research projects for the company. Since 1996, he has conducted hundreds of studies for a large portfolio of clients including Fortune 500 companies, radio groups large and small, and digital media properties. Previously, Jason spent the entirety of his career in media with Edison Research, including serving nearly twelve years as Vice President. Jason has been intricately involved with dozens of industry studies that have helped shape the online audio, online video, and podcasting industries.
Jason is a graduate of the Newhouse School of Public Communications at Syracuse University.
Chris Brunt – Director of AI, Digital and Revenue Generation
Chris has thirty-plus years’ experience in radio programming, digital content creation, and digital sales, most recently at Beasley Media Detroit. During his time at Beasley, and Greater Media Brunt made his mark in the development of websites, audio and video streaming, podcasts, and social media channels. As Digital Sales Manager, he drove increases in revenue by leveraging both owned/operated and programmatic media.
Along with his duties at Jacobs Media, Chris develops revenue opportunities for jācapps’ mobile apps clients.
Chris is an alumnus of both Lyman Briggs School and the College of Communication Arts and Sciences at Michigan State University and resides in metropolitan Detroit.
