JacoBlog - Jacobs Media's Blog

Dark Side of the Zune

As the holidays approach, I am very close to putting a Microsoft Zune on my wish list.  Yes, I have a very nice iPod with all my favorite songs that I frequently use while working out, and during long walks/runs.  But like many of you, I also like the option of listening to the radio - whether it's checking out what my clients are doing, tuning in the competition, or spending time with NPR and various play-by-play sports.

And my iPod won't let me do that.

But the Zune will, and the reviews of this next generation device are actually pretty damn good.  Microsoft has made the inevitable improvements, and some of the features of the Zune mean nothing to me (how am I going to find other Zune owners to share music with?), but I would like an FM tuner.

I'm not alone.  Our Tech Poll last year revealed the top feature that Apple iPod owners want on their next player is an FM radio:

So why shouldn't I have an iPod-like device that has a great-sounding built-in FM tuner?  In spite of the obvious decreases, we know that the top source for music discovery is still FM radio.  That's how many people still get turned onto the music they ultimately buy on iTunes.  So why would Steve Jobs allow me to move away from the iPod family?  And why would he allow Microsoft to get a leg up in a market where he owns the category killer?

I don't know, but I'm tired of waiting.  I'm thinking Zune.

Screwed By The NFL

Perhaps you tuned in to one of the many NFL games on the radio this past weekend.  If you did, the odds are good that you also heard a Howard Stern-voiced Sirius commercial while listening to your favorite NFL team's broadcast.  (If you haven't heard these spots, you can listen below.)

Sirius has apparently bought an advertising package for the next five weeks, targeted to run during NFL radio broadcasts.  Not surprisingly, they promote Sirius, while knocking broadcast radio for censoring content and just being dull.  And of course, they're stealthily using broadcast radio stations - the same ones they want to put out of business - to spread the word.

NFL affiliates can push back and protest these commercials, but my bet is that in many markets, the PDs and GMs didn't hear about these spots from their traffic departments.  Thus, another embarrassing episode for terrestrial radio, while satellite continues to market wherever and whenever they wish.  You can only imagine how the employees of these flagship stations and their hundreds of affiliates must feel when they air, not to mention what the audience is thinking.

Please forward this blog to stations (GMs/PDs) who carry NFL games.  Sirius has every right to cleverly promote itself, but to let them get away with this on broadcast radio makes no sense.  The NFL should know better, and have a little respect for flagships and affiliates who do the heavy lifting every weekend.

Howard Stern commercial for Sirius #1

Howard Stern commercial for Sirius #2

He'll Be Missed

Bill Jacobs shares his thoughts on the passing of one of radio's "good guys," Jim Steel:

That's something you hear about most people when they pass away, but it's 100% true when you're talking about a guy like Jim Steel (real name:  Jim Lyle).  The word came down yesterday that, following a tough five-year battle with Lou Gehrig's disease, Jim passed away at the age of 44.  Although many of you did not know him, I'm sure some of you did, and if you knew him you're well aware that he was one of the most genuine, honest, nicest people you'd ever met.  Not just in radio, but in life.  One of my endearing memories of Jim happened when I was on a market visit in Omaha and, as opposed to the obligatory dinner after a day of meetings, he took me with him to a YMCA where he was coaching a basketball team of underprivileged kids.  That's just the kind of guy he was.

I first met Jim in 1991 when he was programming WHTQ in Orlando (prior to that he programmed WIOT in Toledo), but we had a long working relationship throughout the '90s when he moved to Lincoln, Nebraska (KIBZ and KTGL) and then onto Omaha.  He was diagnosed with ALS in 2002 shortly after he was married, and shortly before his wife, Karin, found out she was pregnant.  His daughter, Delani, is now 5 years old. 

During much of his illness, Jim still worked as the Director of Operations for the Clear Channel properties in Lincoln and Omaha.  He spoke very highly of how he was treated by Clear Channel.  He also started a non-profit organization called Get In The Game , which raised funds for the Lincoln ALS chapter by auctioning off autographed guitars and other music oriented memorabilia.  If you want to do something nice this holiday season, making a donation to Get In The Game under Jim's name is among the better things you can do.  If you're so inclined, donations can be sent to:

Get In The Game
c/o Karin Lyle
1527 Meadowlark Road
Lincoln, NE  68521

He really will be missed.

We invite you to post your tribute and memories of Jim below.  We will forward them to his family.

Is Black Friday Really Black?

Jacobs Media's Dave Beasing pulls back the curtain on myths of "Black Friday" and "Cyber Monday."

The day after Thanksgiving is called “Black Friday” because – as the busiest shopping day of the year – that’s when retailers finally “get into the black,” show a profit.  Right?  Wrong.  Last year, Black Friday only ranked 9th in sales, far surpassed by the two weekends just before Christmas.

The Monday after Thanksgiving is called “Cyber Monday,” because – when consumers get back to work in front of their computers – that’s the busiest online shopping day of the year.  Right?  Wrong.  “Cyber Monday” was coined in 2005 by Shop.org, part of the National Retail Federation.  In reality, Cyber Monday isn’t even among the Top 10, with more online purchases reported during several days in December.

Both events exist for one simple reason:  Marketers created them.  Give them credit for…

• Declaring an exciting “opening” to the season, rather than a “soft launch”
• Creating urgency
• Setting annual appointments with consumers
• Using a credible storyline to garner media coverage and buzz

That’s not just smart retailing.  That’s show biz.  P.T. Barnum would be proud.

It's the Web, Stupid

What's the secret to Wal-Mart's success?  Low prices, many locations, those friendly greeters?

More and more, Wal-Mart is benefiting from a website that draws amazing traffic - and revenue.  The company estimates there will be 800 million visits before the year is out, as customers use the site to do product research, check out sales (and online specials), and of course, buy stuff.  On Thanksgiving Day alone, they had been expecting 10 million visitors, so they're planning even more sales, while beefing up their infrastructure to deal with increasing web traffic (and happy to have avoided a repeat of last year's fiasco).

Amazon.com and other web retailers are thinking along the same lines, as they continue to reap bigger sales every year during the holidays.  Shopping online, which used to be something that only computer savvy consumers would do, is now becoming the mainstream way to do business.

And that leads me to mention again the potential that well-branded radio stations have this holiday season.  Everyone's looking for those neat little stocking stuffers (or what to give folks on the last couple days of Chanukah).  And radio station stuff is the perfect gift - that hooded sweatshirt, the baseball cap, and all the other cool wearables and logo merchandise that stations could or should offer.

It's not too late to get in the game, set-up an online store, and design cool-looking station stuff.  Everyone's whining about that tight 4th quarter, but here's an opportunity to make thousands of dollars without lifting a finger or making a capital investment in wearables.  If you haven't gone this route before or if you tried in the past and it didn't work so well, this holiday season is a great time to reignite your efforts.  Hey, and if you try it this year - and it works - send me a cap.

It indeed can be the most wonderful time of the year.

Vote For Radio

A recent blog entry about how Entercom's KNRK has worked out a cool consumer generated promotion with Toyota's Scion and Snow Patrol got me to thinking about the political race, and revenue potential in '08.

Radio is not in favor, as digital media are perceived to be cooler and more cutting edge, while television continues to rule the "old media" roost.  Yet, when you look at the crowded political landscape for the next 12 months, it makes you wonder whether radio isn't being overlooked by the majority of the political candidates.

If you're Hillary Clinton or Barack Obama on the left, or Mitt Romney or Rudy Guiliani on the right, you've got enough capital to run television without having to catch your financial breath.  But if you're John McCain, Joe Biden, Mike Huckabee, or Chris Dodd, you cannot compete with the millions that TV requires.  Yet, they all have messages to communicate, but insufficient funds to get the job done on the tube.

Enter radio.  The RAB and state broadcaster associations could easily start an initiative to pitch these second tier candidates on the most effective ways to dominate radio in key primaries.  We all know that a smart, saturation campaign across multiple radio stations can absolutely move the needle.  But campaign wisdom always points to television as the medium of choice.  That assumption needs to be effectively countered.

And then there's all the great morning shows in local markets, most of whom would be more than happy to spend a few minutes with candidates with something to say.  And it's radio's DJs who can allow these political hopefuls to be themselves, to have some fun on the air, and still manage to get their messages across.  Whether it's finding out their favorite artists, what's in their CD players, or whether they've sampled the local cuisine, radio personalities can do for the candidates what no other celebrities can do.

National business is cratering, and gone are the days when a great rating book automatically translates to great sales.  You don't see too many reps sitting around answering the phones, giving out rates, and sitting back waiting for the order.  But you also don't see enough of them hustling business, putting together creative packages, and seeking out opportunities for new and prospective advertisers.

Maybe it's time to get out the vote...for radio.

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all.  JacoBlog will return on Monday, November 26th.

Green Truck - Red Truck

Jacobs Media's Tim Davis considers whether it's the medium or the message - or both:

No matter where you land regarding the ongoing Writer's strike, one thing that most agree with is that it has raised awareness of what's at stake in terms of content development in the digital future.

The essence of this strike comes down to receiving fair royalties for material that is re-purposed into online content - whether streamed from the network's site, downloaded on YouTube, or shared on Joost and Veoh.  Up until now, the "distributors" of content (i.e., the networks) have written off all re-purposing of broadcast content as "promotional," struggling how to figure out how to monetize it. The writers view this as a fight for their future earning power.  If it's true that the conventional TV revenue platform, as we know it, is on the way out, the future is NOT all about the "broadcast" but more specifically about distributing the content people love in whatever manner they choose to receive it.

Greg Daniels, the show runner for NBC's The Office sums it up nicely:  "It's like if we made pots, and we delivered them in a green truck, and our contract said, 'This is what you get for pots delivered in a green truck,' and then they bought red trucks and gave us nothing for the same pots, just because they were delivered in the red trucks."

Lost Creator Damon Lindelof takes the concept from the abstract and into real world terms in his op-ed piece in The New York Times: "The rectangular screen in your living room won’t really be a television anymore, it’ll be a computer.  And running into the back of that computer, the wire that delivers unto you everything you watch?  It won’t be cable; it will be the Internet...  This is how vaudevillians must have felt the first time they saw a silent movie; sitting there, suddenly realizing they just became extinct: after all, who wants another soft-shoe number when you can see Harold Lloyd hanging off a clock 50 feet tall?"

In a nutshell, the future is in the "tubes" and as we've talked about in this blog in the past, for radio it's both a content AND delivery issue.  Not only do we have to put out a product people want and love, it's got to be in the places they find convenient: portable devices like cell phones and iPods, and in ways that afford more control.  But we've also got to focus on the content and not get hamstrung over streaming royalty issues and trying to save money by voice tracking.  We have to invest in our talent, our promotions, and our image - and our delivery.

Create solid content and deliver it in the way(s) your consumers expect it.  Don't be afraid to use the Internet or HD2 stations as a sandbox for grooming new talent or trying new programming ideas.  Use the power of your broadcast signal to drive the audience to these new offerings, but be as great on the air as you can be and as creative as possible online.  And move your audience back and forth - a phenomenon we at Jacobs refer to as "pinballing."

We are on the cusp of a sea change for millions of media consumers.  Don't worry about the color of your truck - just work on what's inside of it.

Dear I-Man

An open letter to Don Imus, from Jacobs Media's Dave Beasing:

Dear Mr. Imus,

Welcome back to radio!  For your listeners, mornings just haven't been the same. 
Comedy isn't easy, nor was the way your career at WFAN ended.  It's difficult to consistently be funny without offending someone, and you didn't deserve to be depicted as a monster.  On the other hand, your new deal with WABC is probably a lucrative one, as someone with your increased name recognition deserves.  You're fine.

So who paid the price for your lapse in judgment?  Certainly, the young women on that basketball team head the list.  And so does radio.  While NAB President David Rehr and his team are busy reminding Congress about all the good things that local broadcasters do, you sent a different message directly to their constituents – that this industry has sometimes been racist, sexist, and downright stupid.

Radio needs big stars like you.  Most of us are sincerely happy about your return.  But do us a favor.  Please use your immense talent to everyone’s benefit.  In return, we’ll be listening, laughing and loving your show.  Deal?

Respectfully,

Dave Beasing

Rock On

The video game buzz continues to intensify with the release of Guitar Hero III, and the great news if you're in Rock Radio is that it's all about you.  After all the "Rock Is Dead" articles you've had to explain away to your sales people and your jocks, the gaming industry continues to glorify the music gods that are the epicenter of your format.

But on November 20th, gaming gets a new entrant with the release of Rock Band, where players now control a guitar, mic, and drum kit.  And as an added bonus, the mic doubles as a cow bell, which should make fans everywhere very happy.  And the "set list" for Rock Band (at least the '70s and '80s material") pretty much reads like a meat and potatoes Classic Rock station (see below).  Additionally, the entire Who's Next and Metallica's One album will be downloadable, along with 18 Grateful Dead songs.

Aside from attractive giveaways, a fun activity at station events, and some great morning show bits (please consider a video cam for the studio), Rock Band is another reminder that the genre is - and always will be - fun, participatory, and cool.  Maybe it takes a push from a related industry to remind us how great it is to sit behind a bass drum or strum an electric guitar to some of Rock's biggest anthems.  This is yet another form of listener generated media, where anybody can be a star.

Rock on.  Game on.

P.S.  And in a bizarre and often hilarious tie-in, the folks at Vh1 Classic have the "story" of "Rock Band Band," the Spinal Tap-like foursome who personify this new game.  These are great video segments, and add a lot to the flavor and buzz of "Rock Band."