You know the weird feeling when you discover an old photo (or aircheck!) of yourself that you had forgotten existed.  That’s what happened when I bumped into today’s post, a #TBT relic from exactly three years ago. The topic?  AI.  And the jumping off point was an article in Rolling Stone about a new initiative to use pieces of dead artists alchemed with the state of the art of wherever AI was as a technology in 2021 to make “new” music that sounded like dead artists – Kurt Cobain, Amy Winehouse, etc. And now, three years later, none of this is surprising.  In f ..read more

These are always exciting weeks for me.  On Thursday, I get to present the top-line results of Techsurvey 2024 to hundreds of interested radio professionals.  And even though this particular survey is comprised of commercial radio users from the U.S. and Canada, I noticed while perusing the list of registrants to our webinar on Thursday we have many representatives from public and Christian radio.  This tells me there is a great deal of interest in insights and answers about radio, media, and how they are transforming our lives. And why not?  We talk often about how we’re ..read more

Dateline:  The NAB in Las Vegas The scene:  The bar in both the Encore and Wynn (you can’t tell ’em apart) is teaming with radio’s C-suite executives, hangers-on, job seekers, and a lot of tourists wondering what the fuss is all about. The big topic;  AI, what else? The NAB in its infinite wisdom was ready for this.  There are panels, sessions, workshops, and even a red-headed young man talking to a robot.  Here’s how the NAB framed their AI-heavy schedule: I took the NAB’s advice.  Of course, I brought a conservative suit (hey, it IS the NAB, right?), and foll ..read more

I wish I could remember where I first saw this quote.  It may have been tacked up on a sales cubicle or in an ad agency.  But I remembered thinking at the time, it was a smart quote no matter what was going on – a new product launch, a recession, even a global pandemic. I later learned its source was none other than Phineas Taylor Barnum (P. T. to you), also known as “The Greatest Showman on Earth.”  After all, when you’re credited with creating the biggest, most successful circus on planet earth, that’s something.  For those of us who have worked in radio stations that ha ..read more

Lots of Innovations, New Tools, and Counter-Hype What’s News: After a late-March lull, press releases and news stories for AI innovations have been fast and furious over the last week, showing that even if the PR teams took a spring vacation, the development teams didn’t. First off, Google announced the public release of the latest version of Gemini 1.5, which now can understand audio/speech and video.  OpenAI announced that ChatGPT basic users no longer have to have an account to use the service to expand access. Not to be outdone, Meta announced it will be launching an open-source versi ..read more

Screen cap: SNL via YouTube Yesterday’s blog post – “Has Radio Lost Its Muscle Memory” (And How To Get It Back)? – was directed at commercial radio loosening its grip on its traditional listening audience and taking well-calculated risks.  The state of public radio in 2024 looks to be every bit as precarious. How bad is it?  Public radio stations must report their financial statements, so with some diligent web surfing, it is relatively easy to put together the economic vital signs for scores of stations throughout the system.  That’s precisely what public radio ex-pat, Tim Eby ..read more

https://jacobsmedia.com/wp-content/uploads/2024/04/solor-eclipse-moovie-reid_1.mp4 These last few days here on JacoBLOG have spawned a debate about whether broadcast radio in the States is still a viable medium.  And like so many other questions in our bipolar world, there is a clear split between those who remain bullish about radio despite the competitive environment and self-inflected wounds versus those who insist the credits are rolling. For the critics, it’s the usual vitriol, mostly aimed at big companies, consolidation, massive debt, greed, budget cuts, layoffs, and wrong-headed d ..read more

You’ve probably noticed the differences in just the past year or so if you watch a fair amount of TV.  There’s simply fewer great shows, more ads, higher fees, more subscription services, and more confusion as the television/streaming industry bubble is nearing its bursting point. That’s the not-so-rosy view from Caleb Denison, editor at large for Digital Trends, in a detailed article, “The Golden Age of TV isn’t just over – it’s imploding,” published a few weeks ago.  Suffice it to say, it’s a pessimistic piece about an industry that’s overshadowed radio since the 1950’s ..read more

Remember when first quarter was always slow, sales were sluggish, and not a whole lot was going on? Not anymore, and certainly not in 2024.  It’s been a tumultuous Q1 across the board, as radio – and the rest of the media world – is being roiled by change.  While not true in all cases, numbers frequently tell a compelling story.  And this quarter is no exception. Here’s a look at some of the numbers we’ve been grappling with in Q1 2024: 2 America’s second largest radio company announced its bankruptcy plan in February, a shoe that many analysts had predicted dropping for months ..read more

Blue Crab Magnets I’ve gotten considerable feedback already this week on our two-part post, “Radio, This Is Us.” The main thrust of these posts is that a return to radio’s basics – a renewed emphasis on “live & local” – may be the best path forward for a medium bedeviled by increasing competition, the fumes of COVID, as well as its own financial pressures.  The idea is that by refocusing on these fundamentals, the U.S. commercial radio industry has a chance  to positively differentiate itself from everyone else. While I highlighted compelling new data that supports a re-emphasis ..read more