If you love and listen to radio anytime (almost anywhere) over the last 20+ years, I can almost promise that you’ve been exposed to the creative genius of Fred and Paul Jacobs. These gentlemen have been thought leaders and top level consultants to the industry since I was a little baby DJ at Central Michigan University.
Fred Jacobs founded Jacobs Media in 1983. He was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018 and is widely credited with creating the “Classic Rock” format. Brother Paul Jacobs joined the firm in 1991; is an expert in all “rock formats” and is indeed a “sales savant”, helping radio stations “ring the cash register” for decades.
When these guys talk, the smart radio executives (and the ones who win consistently) pay attention. Jacobs Media has been talking about disruption in the radio industry for years. They take radio executives on a carefully guided tour of the CES Show in Las Vegas annually. In 2020, Jacobs Media added an app development team .
You won’t find Jacobs clients among the cast of characters in my post about ‘Larry the Liquidators List of Losers‘. Now, they’ve just announced a new free service to help the industry better understand the most impactful technology disruption broadcasters have ever faced: AI. AI Edge: A Practical Guide to AI for Broadcasters.
~ Of course, you can always continue to make ‘buggy whips’.