It is amazing to watch radio adapt to change, especially as it concerns integrating technology into radio stations that used to think about equipment upgrades as buying new CD players for the studio.
And as technology moves at a breakneck pace, it’s interesting to note how our vision about the future has changed – quickly. For example, turn the clock back 25 years. Could you imagine hiring any of the people in this picture to provide tech support or consulting?
Of course, if you passed on this group, you’d have missed hiring Microsoft. This is a photo of that company taken in 1978. That’s Bill Gates on the bottom left, and Paul Allen on the bottom right.
Fast-forward to June 2006, and it’s great to see radio continuing to step out, and integrate technology into its programming and sales strategies. This week, Entercom hired former CBS interactive and sales marketing guru, Sandy Smallens, for a newly created position: Senior Vice President – Digital. It sends a message to programmers, sales managers, and radio staffs that thinking differently/digitally is radio’s future. And hiring expertise from the outside is not only healthy, it’s necessary.
Still, it’s too bad we passed on those Microsoft guys.
Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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