2015: Episode 2
[coolcastplayer id=”2″]
Fred Jacobs is the President and Founder of Jacobs Media. After a couple of years programming the legendary WRIF in Detroit, he launched Jacobs Media, where he invented the Classic Rock radio format. It exploded in the 1980s, and is still growing strong today. Jacobs Media also developed The Edge Alternative Rock format. In recent years, Fred and his brother Paul launched jacapps, a sister company that develops mobile apps for media companies.
Jacobs Media’s pioneering Techsurvey study explores how radio listeners use different technologies. The company has branched into other formats as well, with a Public Radio Techsurvey and a Christian Broadcasting Techsurvey. This led the company into areas like mobile apps, the connected car, and podcasting.
- Fred started his career in research by working for Frank Magid
- Fred programmed the legendary WRIF in Detroit
- Fred’s first Classic Rock station was WMMQ in Lansing, Michigan
- Jacobs Media launched The Edge Alternative format in the late 1980s
- Paul Jacobs helps Jacobs Media clients with radio sales
- Tom Calderone, who went on to become the President of VH1, started as an Alternative Rock consultant at Jacobs Media
- The End in Seattle has a bold commercial policy
- The Jacobs Media Techsurveys leverage radio station email databases to provide insight into how listeners use technology
- Jacobs Media launched a mobile app company, jacapps, after Apple launched its app store
- Jacobs Media hosts the annual DASH Conference which connects radio executives and connected car professionals
- Apple’s CarPlay and Google’s Android Auto are two key operating systems in connected cars
- When Wired asked Jon Stewart about the distribution of The Daily Show, he replied, “I make the donuts; I don’t drive the trucks.”
- Revenue growth is going to come from sources “other” than spot revenue: events, digital, merchandise, etc.
- Matt O’Grady from Nielsen says, “You can’t monetize what you can’t measure.”
- Nielsen is introducing a software development kit (SDK) to measure streaming
- Pandora has led the way in terms of data collection
- NPR is learning a lot about its audience through the NPR One app
- 2% of radio listeners own a smart watch in the latest Techsurvey
- More listeners on a weekly basis are going to YouTube and Netflix than Spotify and Pandora
- Serial has inspired binge-listening
- Steve Goldstein has launched Amplifi Media focusing on podcasting
Produced by James Clausen.
NOTE: Seth Resler is now the Digital Dot Connector for Jacobs Media, which means Fred is his boss. But he wasn’t at the time that he conducted this interview.
- A Simple Digital Treat to Thank Your Radio Listeners This Thanksgiving - November 13, 2023
- Interview Questions When Hiring Your Radio Station’s Next Digital Marketing Manager - November 6, 2023
- A Radio Conversation with ChatGPT: Part 2 – Promotions - October 30, 2023
Leave a Reply