Who's YOUR No. 1?

May 5, 2005
Who's YOUR No. 1?

The NBA Playoffs are underway, and of course, speculation abounds about whether this year’s champs will be superstar-laden OR whether the star-less Detroit Pistons will repeat. The Pistons are truly an anomaly in sports.  The fact is, most teams require big stars.  But there’s a difference between heavy hitters and a team’s No. 1.  Baseball scouts use that term to describe certain pitchers – the guys that have that rare quality that makes a player not just great, but essential to the team’s consistency, health, and success. In baseball,...

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Blogs Will Change Your Business

May 5, 2005
Blogs Will Change Your Business

Front cover of a recent Business Week – “Blogs Will Change Your Business” (free registration required).  Starting out their cover story with the quote, “You can’t afford to miss this wave,” they do a great job describing and fleshing out why blogs are so important to businesses. That’s what I’m finding after writing jacoBLOG over the past few months.  Tim Davis didn’t exactly drag me kicking and screaming in the blogosphere, but I wasn’t very bullish either.  Now that our blog has been up and running, I’m becoming a...

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Things You Learn Reading Annual Reports

May 4, 2005
Things You Learn Reading Annual Reports

I am fortunate to own a little stock in one of the brightest stories of the year (decade?).  Google’s annual report just hit my mailbox, and it’s loaded with wonderful little highlights that tell a great deal about why their company is successful. I won’t bore you with all the cool things they have in the works.  You can read about those every day in your daily newspaper.  But how does Google come up with all those great ideas? All Google employees have “20 percent time” – essentially one...

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Nine Inch Neo

May 3, 2005
Nine Inch Neo

A great blog entry from Jacobs Media consultant, Dave Beasing, who notes that Nine Inch Nails’ Trent Reznor has come up with a great idea that gives his fans unique access to his music.  He is offering their hit, “The Hand That Feeds,” in a free download with multiple tracks.  Anyone can remix it, rearrange, and add their own interpretation of the song (www.nin.com/current). Already fans have come up with their own versions of the song – “Deep House Mix,” “The Banjo That Feeds,” and “The Hand That Funks”...

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Little Steven To Keynote Jacobs Summit X

May 2, 2005
Little Steven To Keynote Jacobs Summit X

Summit X (June 23rd) in Cleveland continues to come together.  Little Steven, the man of many talents, will be our keynoter.  Steven’s background in music, radio, and all-things entertainment, will have a lot to say about the state of our business and where it’s headed.  If you’ve ever heard him speak, you know he’s all about passion, discovery, and yes, “Purple Cows.”  We’re proud to have him as our headliner, and invite all Jacobs Media clients to register (free of charge, as always) for our tenth annual Jacobs Media...

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MC2

May 2, 2005
MC2

OK, it’s no SXSW, but there were lots of stirrings here in the Motor City as a burgeoning local music scene was showcased recently at the Motor City Music Conference (MC2).  Paul and I have been in a behind-the-scenes mode with these guys for a lot of years now, and it’s great to see this event taking shape.  Gary Graff, author, music critic, and conference booster, has played a major role in MC2′s success.  Crowds were estimated at 7,000-12,000, and there’s a great spirit here. Paul and I took...

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Arbitron Cell Phone Webinar

April 29, 2005
Arbitron Cell Phone Webinar

Arbitron just put the wraps on a Consultant-only conference call to address the “cell phone only” issue.  Since the Arbitron Advisory Council presented the findings of our Technology Web Poll regarding “cell phone only” listening, Arbitron has made some moves. Aside from their past studies on the topic, they’ll be fielding a test this summer in six markets to (among other things) determine whether “cell phone only” listeners have different radio tastes than everyone else.  Our Web poll strongly suggested that’s the case, especially working against Alternative. On the...

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The Pope Goes Neo

April 29, 2005
The Pope Goes Neo

Just days after becoming the leader of the Catholic Church, Pope Benedict XVI has been informed by his technical support team that his new email address – benedictxvi@vatican.va – is good to go.  This isn’t a pitch for you to email him, but like all great leaders, hearing from his core audience is obviously something he values. You may have also read that back when he was a Cardinal, he denounced the Beatles in 1996, and has spoken out against AC/DC, Black Sabbath, and Alice Cooper – clearly not...

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A Shameless Plug

April 28, 2005
A Shameless Plug

Beasing’s “Buzz” for April is now posted on our site.  If you’ve never read one of Dave’s compendiums of pop culture notes, observations, and oddities, take five minutes and check it out.  “Buzz” is always well-written, timely, and yes…buzzworthy.  Enjoy the writing and the wit of one real smart guy. >Click Here To Read Beasing’s Buzz<

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Pimped Out 'Pods

April 27, 2005
Pimped Out 'Pods

Of course, it all started with the special edition U2 iPod.  Now, thanks to the humor of Leisure Design, here’s the newest batch of personalized iPods: Wille Nelson’s Tommy Lee’s Dolly Parton’s Ray Charles’ And of course, Foghat’s: See some more over at Sync Magazine Online!

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Pyramid Of Pain

April 26, 2005
Pyramid Of Pain

  The Jacobs Media Technology Web Poll has been released to participating client stations, and will be making its way into the trades in the coming days and weeks.  There’s so much data here, that it’s difficult to determine the most impressive finding.  Many of you have already read the “cell phone only“ story.  There’s also big news about iPod ownership and use, as well as the incredible proliferation of videogame play. To put the study – and radio’s challenge – into perspective, we created a “Media Usage Pyramid.” ...

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Star For An Hour

April 25, 2005
Star For An Hour

Funny thing happening with New York Mets fans.  Every time the team travels on the road to Philadelphia, Met devotees stand in line at Citizens Bank Park to participate in a promotion that Philly fans are tired of.  (Of course, if you know Philly fans, they hate everything – including themselves.  But that’s for another blog.) What’s the big deal?  For $10, Mets fans wait for a turn in a studio called “Broadcast Dream” to provide the play-by-play for a half-inning of the game.  They walk out with a...

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Podcasting Station Content

April 22, 2005
Podcasting Station Content

There’s been lots of talk about podcasting during the past year.  As is typically the case with new technology, everyone debates about whether it’s the next big thing or another geeky wild goose chase. Our new Technology Web Poll confirms one important thing – about one-fifth of our Rock sample owns an iPod-like device.  And of those who don’t, about four in ten say they’ve very or somewhat likely to buy one this year.  Those are big numbers.  Whether these consumers get into podcasting is an unknown, but the...

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