One of the most consistently frustrating conversations we continue to have—year after year—revolved around the transformation of radio revenue from analog to digital dollars.
Next week, Paul Jacobs and Chris Brunt will be hosting a free webinar devoted to the pursuit of digital revenue, that still-elusive pot of money that radio broadcasters continue to chase. I know this continues to be a hot radio topic because of the hundreds of you that have (so far) signed up. I’ve watched their learning curve over the past couple years. And that’s the genesis of this webinar, featuring their top 10 takeaways about the industries successes and failures chasing digital revenue.
Here’s Paul and Chris’ wizened view of the sales landscape, as well as a preview of what they’ll be sharing next week. There’s still time to sign up and I’ll post the registration page at the end of this post. – FJ
I’ve been selling radio since two days after I graduated college. Yes, that’s many decades ago. When I first got into the business, in many ways it was easier. Radio stations typically had a handful of competitors up and down the radio dial, while the only other media we had to worry about was newspapers, television, and (gulp), the Yellow Pages.
And we thought we had it hard.
Of course, we also didn’t have many options to offer our clients either. When I started, there were :60s, :30s, and remotes (one per week). And while not many clients expected much more than that (we didn’t even do endorsements or live reads), radio grew its revenue every year because there simply weren’t a lot of other options.
Life was good.
I wish I could say the same thing today. As I talk to broadcasters and ask how things are going, once I get past the heavy sigh and eye roll, I hear the same thing—it’s harder than ever, national revenue isn’t worthy of a budget line, and the pie is shrinking.
If anyone doubts where the goalposts have moved, the chart below should be tacked onto every cubicle in every radio station in America—commercial, public, and Christian.
Below is a reflection of how the audience has shifted. They aren’t just using digital media over analog, but it’s also indicative of how our best listeners are consuming our own stations. This chart from Techsurvey 2026 clearly shows the tale of analog versus digital consumption of core listeners’ favorite stations—and it is compelling. A lot has changed in a relatively short period of time.
But what about the ways in which radio markets its own assets? It’s not for a lack of inventory. These days, sales reps have more than enough options to sell—on-air ads, remotes, live reads, multiple events, every form of digital imaginable (audio, video, social SEM, SEO, display, and more), concert sponsorships, audio pre-roll on station streams, website display ads, mobile apps, newsletters, podcasts, and too many more to mention. And yet, with all of these “tools in the toolbox,” many are failing and frustrated.
So, where’s the disconnect?
For the past two years, I’ve been working with Chris Brunt, our director of digital revenue, on the creation and implementation of Jacobs D.R. (“Digital Revenue”)—our approach to helping stations develop and implement an effective digital revenue strategy. We’ve worked with stations from the top ten to unrated markets in both commercial and public radio, so we’ve experienced the full spectrum of challenges as well as opportunities.
And we’ve learned a lot.
So we want to share with you 10 big things we’ve learned about digital revenue in a free webinar on Thursday, July 16 at 2p ET. We actually could have created 25 or more from these past couple years, but these are our main takeaways. And since few companies are taking our approach, we felt it was time to share with the industry and elevate the conversation. Because we continue to learn the dynamic shifts impacting the radio business aren’t slowing down—they are accelerating—and broadcasters need to get serious about revenue diversification now before its too late, regardless of their market size.
REGISTER FOR THE WEBINAR HERE
To whet your appetite, here are two of the ten lessons we’ve learned along the way. And we invite you to share what you’ve learned below in the comments—you never know, we just might include you in the webinar (with credit if you want it, of course).
The dollars have shifted (to digital), but too many sellers don’t cash in because they simply don’t ask. Clients don’t send press releases heralding when they are re-allocating their media budgets. Add to that, station reps often ask about the “radio budget” only because that’s their primary focus. It’s a huge miss. We have heard repeatedly from sellers who are shocked to find out their clients have dropped radio for digital, or are dumbfounded by getting a smaller buy compared to previous years.
It’s because they fail to ask about their client’s total budget allocation.
Chris frequently cites a finding from Gordon Borrell’s research that should concern every radio sales manager: the number of media sales reps the average business deals with has declined significantly. The days of media “cattle calls,” where advertisers met with a parade of AEs from radio, TV, cable, print, and digital, are largely over. Businesses today are both cash-strapped AND time-strapped, and most do not want to manage an entire defensive line of salespeople in order to build a marketing plan.
That shift creates a real challenge for radio. A single digital rep can now walk in with reach, targeting, frequency, attribution, and a dashboard that appears to connect spend directly to ROI. Whether that solution is always better is beside the point. For many advertisers, it is easier to buy, easier to understand, and easier to justify to the boss.
For non-commercial stations, the pressure may be even greater. Many have not historically had to worry as much about “how deep” their underwriting advertisers were buying, because sponsors often needed multiple stations, programs, or platforms to build meaningful coverage. But today, one digital buy through one vendor can often provide broad reach with less friction than assembling a slate of traditional sponsorships.
Radio’s strengths haven’t lost value; stations need to package those attributes in ways that match how advertisers now buy: simpler solutions, clearer outcomes, and marketing opportunities that match businesses’ current digital needs. Radio has to prove it is easy to buy, easy to understand, and combines seamlessly with digital (and yes, radio does a great job of “filling the top of the marketing funnel,” thus enhancing its digital success).
This opportunity is significant. Reps who focus on the client’s entire marketing budget, rather than just the radio line item, are far more likely to uncover a larger ad spend opportunity than they originally imagined, especially when digital allocations enter the conversation. And those who can pair radio’s core strengths with credible digital solutions have the best chance not only to survive this changing environment, but to thrive in it.
No two digital strategies and solution sets should be the same. It may sound like just another consultant cliché, but there is no one-size-fits-all approach to developing a digital sales strategy. This is one of the reasons why some companies with stations in multiple markets experience a mixture of success and failure even though they’re executing similar game plans.
It’s one of the most important lessons we’ve learned working with such a wide variety of stations. The reality is there are many factors that should dictate a station’s approach to digital marketing. These include staffing structure, management philosophy, competition, O&O assets, sales team experience, and many others.
We’ve learned many more lessons, which we’ll share during the webinar, but one main takeaway is that while digital is a huge opportunity for radio, it isn’t “plug and play.” It requires analysis, a strategy, a realistic approach, staff buy-in, and more. When all of these align, the results can be great. But stations that simply say “we are now selling digital” typically run into challenges, and aren’t nearly as successful as they should be.
Earlier we invited you to share your lessons in the comments section below, and we will share the best ones during the webinar. Or if you just want our take on building a successful digital business, join us on Thursday July 16 at 2pm ET by registering here: 10 Things We Learned Helping Radio Stations About Digital Revenue
Here’s to your digital revenue success.
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 the day-to-day operations of Jacobs Media, Paul’s main contribution has been the addition of sales consulting services. As an expert in all Rock formats, Paul has made Jacobs Media clients’ untold amounts of money 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 Jacobs Media 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.
- Radio’s Digital Revenue Conundrum - July 6, 2026
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- Surfing The Billion Dollar Mosh Pit - January 13, 2026
Isn’t Digital an Effective DELIVERY of BROADCAST SERVICE & CONTENT?
Yes, but there’s more. Digital delivery of the radio audience is a key component part – streaming, display ads on station sites, podcasts, etc.
But the majority of dollars that advertisers are spending have to do with SEO/SEM, OTT, social media, and more. And stations can now “rep” that as well to begin to capture a greater share of a client’s dollars.
That’s where the big opportunity is
One of the things that could greatly benefit our industry is a standard way of measuring impressions, reach, frequency, etc across broadcast and digital platforms in one number. Packaging that up for advertisers, I think, would go a long way towards helping advertisers understand how broadcast and digital audio work together and help us as an industry capture more digital revenue. I would love to hear any thoughts on that topic.
From the beginnings of the Digital Era, smart broadcasters have yearned for a single number – a metric that would aggregate impressions across platforms – analog + digital. We’re still waiting, Brian.