Our Latest Industry Blogs

Sign, Sign, Everywhere A Sign

August 25, 2025

The fall book is just around the corner and there’s no money to market the station. If that’s your station’s situation, you’re not alone. But there might just might be an approach you haven’t thought of that’s the right price and done right, highly buzzworthy. The solution comes from a chap who lives across the pond in Chichester. This could be a great sign for your station heading into the final quarter of the year.

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Cable’s Demise

August 22, 2025

It’s been a busy week at Jacobs and jacapps HQ as we gear up for some big September projects (more on that soon). While we’re in prep mode, here are a few headlines worth your attention: Streaming Video Continues Its Creeping Domination Nielsen’s monthly TV report, The Gauge, shows that in July streaming continued its steady…

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Are There Suddenly More “Friends Of Radio?”

August 22, 2025

It was another challenging week—part of a challenging summer of radio comings and goings (mostly the latter). How can radio quietly encourage its still respectable audience to discover the medium’s unique benefits and charms AND communicate them to more people using social platforms? It’s tall order but we have to start somewhere. So, a supportive, encouraging post to end the week. See what you think.

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Radio Air Talent Look In the Mirror

August 21, 2025

Today’s look back at JacoBLOG over the years is a journey back to 2018 – the very first AQ study of air talent AND the 30th anniversary of radio talent’s official/unofficial meeting site – Morning Show Boot Camp. In some ways, we can say this about this seven year-old post, “The more things change, the more they stay the same.” For an industry trying to regain its footing, today’s post is a reminder – hopefully – about what’s really important.

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Public Radio: Picking Up The Pieces

August 20, 2025

The most dramatic and craziest summer of all time has hit the public radio world hard. The recission vote that clawed back previously committed funds led to the demise of CPB, and public radio stations everywhere are scrambling to put together effective plans of action. Next week, it’s the Public Media Content Collective’s Content Conference in Salt Lake City. I’ll be on hand to unveil this year’s PRTS 2025, along with a surprise or two. Let’s go.

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In Praise Of Mission-Driven Radio

August 19, 2025

As the world of media becomes more competitive, brands that stand the test of time are “mission first.” A look at the familiar players in radio tell us a great deal about who’s playing the mission game wisely.

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Radio And The Lost Art Of Airchecking

August 18, 2025

As we know, radio has changed considerably over the past decade or two. New technologies and innovation have replaced old rituals and tasks at hands. One of these is that old standard, the aircheck session, where the PD would sit down with talent and review a show together. The degree to which airchecking advanced the skills of radio personalities will never be known. But we do know fewer on-air hosts are critiqued and evaluated these days. What effect is the lack of airchecking having on radio’s ability to remain relevant? And a bonus—an aircheck you’ve never heard before from one of the most famous disc jockeys of all time.

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Booms and Busts in Digital Advertising

August 15, 2025

The stock market’s outlook has been mostly cloudy for media and marketing companies for some time. While you can check the trades or your favorite business app for this week’s Q2 reports from the radio companies, one major player in radio sellers’ digital business flew under the radar: The Trade Desk. The Trade Desk (TTD)…

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Why Radio Needs To Be More Upfront

August 15, 2025

Television platforms and brands rely on “upfronts” to gin up interest and excitement in the upcoming season of content. And when everything works in-sync, these events also add a great deal of revenue to the enterprise because advertisers want to be a part of whatever is new and hot. Here’s how radio can pull off its own version of the upfront.

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Is It Time For Radio To Kill Its “Zombie Brands?”

August 14, 2025

Every business enterprise—including broadcasting groups and individual stations—is carrying around brand baggage that can obscure success. Coke’s CEO, James Quincey, calls them “zombie brands,” and his company consistently eliminates those no longer contributing to the enterprise. In today’s #TBT, the question is how can we take a thoughtful but hard look at the radio business to assess where our efforts are being misspent—and where we can focus our resources to ensure our best brands get the support they deserve? There’s an art to “zombie killing” as you’ll read in today’s post.

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