Jacobs Media’s Dave Beasing offers insight on the importance of Radio connecting with the community:
An old vacant building in downtown Salt Lake City burned to the ground one night last week. Fortunately, there were no injuries, and the fire was contained.
Why should it receive even a passing mention on the radio? Credit KXRK "X96" Program Director Todd "Nuke ‘Em" Noker with understanding the significance. Beginning in 1989, that building was home to Club DV8, the ultimate gathering place for Generation X. Much like Woodstock, if everyone who claims to have seen Pearl Jam or Catherine Wheel at Club DV8 actually had, the place would have to have been 10-times its size. So throughout the next day, X96 featured those memories – and played some of the bands that helped shape the alternative scene within an otherwise mainstream city. That’s how you connect with the community.
During one of my first official outings for Jacobs, I visited a client radio station in my Midwestern hometown. What I remember most is a staff meeting during which I quickly realized: I was the only area native in the room. Oddly, the consultant from L.A. was the most "inside" person there. They were already cloning other stations in their format. What they needed most was to adapt the formula to local tastes.
Our industry’s lobbyists are correct when they tell Washington that there’s no substitute for the news and information provided by local broadcasters. But being local shouldn’t stop there. With virtually every station everywhere available online, what makes your station any different? At the end of the day, it’s your ability to connect with the locals on their home turf – a quality that new media will never have.
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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