Today I’m proud to announce something new: A new division of my company, Mark Ramsey Media. For many years we have served the research needs of all broadcasters everywhere. That will not change. Christian broadcasters, however, are a special subset with special needs and – in many cases – a business model driven by fans, not by ratings. Over time, my company has become the leading strategic research firm for Christian radio. So now we’re doubling down with a new division buil

Can Netflix become HBO before HBO becomes Netflix? And… Can Radio survive without passion? Plus, rants and raves on Netflix’s “The Haunting of Hill House,” the demise of SEARS, and more. It’s episode 88 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Listen as we go inside media to reveal the ugly truth! Click the play button below: And if you’re reading this by email, click here for the audio. Sample and subscribe to Media Unplugged a

Today Radio Ink reported that Pandora is being dropped from Toyota’s dash display. The report was based on an email sent to Toyota Entune users by the carmaker. Is this dire for Pandora? Should radio be celebrating? No. And no. I own a late model Toyota and I received that email. First, anyone who is forced to suffer Toyota’s miserable Entune entertainment system knows it’s easily the worst thing about their Toyota which, fortunately, can be easily circumvented by accessing t

Are smartphones killing websites? And… Facebook is losing its cool among teens. Plus, rants and raves about IHOP (or is it IHOB?), the “Truth Initiative,” and more. It’s episode 84 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Listen as we go inside media to reveal the ugly truth! Click the play button below: And if you’re reading this by email, click here for the audio. Sample and subscribe to Media Unplugged at iTunes. Or do the sa

You’re gonna need a bigger set of earbuds. I’m proud to announce the introduction of my latest collaboration with the peerless audio genius Jeff Schmidt. It’s the story about a classic movie and its inspirations. A tale of a modest thriller that became an ordeal and then a disaster and then a phenomenon and then a classic. A story of one man, a fresh-faced, inexperienced director who nearly wrecked his promising career and became the most important filmmaker of our era. This

Do influencers really influence anything? And… Adidas unfriends Facebook. Maybe your brand should, too. Plus, rants and raves about the Earth-shattering consequences of Best Buy’s new logo, a newspaper’s wet-look ad that looks too real, and Google’s new AI that’s almost too human. It’s episode 83 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Listen as we go inside media to reveal the ugly truth! Click the play button below: And if yo

So the FCC is contemplating the relaxation of radio ownership rules. Some broadcasters want to own more stations under one roof in order to compete with more platforms attacking radio from the fringes. Central to this issue is what radio “is” now. In order to regulate something you need to know what it is and what it isn’t, right? Here’s a fact: Radio is not an industry of towers. It’s an industry of content and listeners and advertisers. Spotify, Pandora, and podcast platfor

It’s informed speculation at this point, but the story goes like this: By the end of this month, Spotify is expected to make some hardware announcements, and there’s a good chance that one of those announcements will be designed to bring the platform closer to more cars. Obviously anybody with a smartphone and bluetooth can conceivably use Spotify in their cars, but the platform is notoriously laborious – indeed, that’s the whole point of Spotify: Getting exactly what you wan

Well the ratings are in, and the revival of the classic sitcom Roseanne is a huge hit: The first two episodes of Roseanne, a full hour at the top of the ABC lineup, won the night by both adults 18-49 and total viewers. The show averaged a 5.1 rating in the key demo and 18.1 million viewers, rising from the first half hour to the next. The first number alone is enough to make Roseanne the highest-rated regularly scheduled scripted show of the last few seasons, since Empire at

By now you’re probably familiar with the recently announced initiative from FOX that will reduce commercial content to just two minutes per hour by 2020. This comes as audiences are spending less time on network TV and more time on OTT (over the top) platforms like Amazon and Netflix. While in some cases younger demographics have opted away from traditional TV altogether, the greatest problem is the reduced time spent viewing on traditional TV, particularly among younger demo

Creating your own podcast: A big waste of time? And… NBC/Universal cuts primetime ads by 20% – should you? Plus, rants and raves about Tuxe – the fashion company that has turned its products into services – and Ring’s impressive acquisition by Amazon after being rejected by the Shark Tank crew. It’s episode 80 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Listen as we go inside media to reveal the ugly truth! Click the play button be

There isn’t a broadcasting company that doesn’t hope that answer is “yes,” and guess what: “Yes” is right. A recent New York Times piece outlines exactly how successful this can be – in television: Nielsen ratings, which measure the number of viewers who tune in for shows at the time of their broadcasts, are down for the networks yet again – 10 percent this season. NBC has responded by learning to make money from viewers who stream its programs – and now it is learning how to

There’s lots of talk about the impact of smart speakers like Amazon’s Echo on usage for radio. Indeed, last year alone, some 25 million of these devices were sold, 11 million in the holiday quarter alone. The appeal to broadcasters is obvious: A device that’s all about listening – and it’s being embraced by millions of American households who quite possibly don’t own radios at home and thus are less likely to listen to them. What if we could return the radio to the living roo

And… Amazon goes private label. Plus, rants and raves on the TV spot that’s a podcast that’s a local restaurant…or something, Facebook’s “fake news” flag that makes content MORE popular, Jack in the Box’s effort to monetize the marijuana munchies, and what happens when Netflix viewers know more about what they should see than movie critics. It’s episode 77 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Listen as we go inside media to

Will social media mentions lead to radio tune-in? Will likes and shares and comments lead to ratings? That’s your hope, of course. Because we all know that no commercial broadcaster would devote an iota of effort to social media if he or she didn’t believe there was some translation – no matter how indirect – to ratings. The same could be said of movies, right? Why promote your movie across social media unless it leads to box office results? Check out what filmmaker Steven So

The title of the (somewhat cheeky) Washington Post piece said it all: “We can’t take any more of 2017, so we’ve turned to the Hallmark Channel in desperation.” Most radio broadcasters seem to think that Christmas is about Christmas music, but it’s not. And while Christmas is ultimately about the birth of Christ, that’s not the meaning I’m talking about either. Christmas is a time of hope, of kindness, of togetherness, of love, and of nostalgia. And in an era of political divi

From Nielsen (via All Access): Americans spend 87% of their AM/FM radio listening tuning into their three favorite stations (based on the amount of time spent with each). What’s more interesting is that 58% of all listening goes to just one station, the listener’s favorite (called the ‘1st Preference’ station, or P1) Let’s break this down. First, this percentage is based on “AM/FM radio listening,” meaning it excludes any portion of listening which is devoted to other audio p

How to survive the media apocalypse. And… Voice control: It’s not as big as you think – but maybe it will be. Plus, rants and raves about Spotify’s reinvention as an partner for music artists, the new Steven Spielberg movie The Post, and the the wax museum selfies that have outraged the world. It’s episode 75 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Listen as we go inside media to reveal the ugly truth! Click the play button bel

It’s one of the toughest problems facing any of us in the audio space: How do we leverage social media to spread our actual audio content? This problem is made tougher by the fact that various social media platforms are all in on video and images, but not so much all in on audio. There are a number of platforms available today that attempt to solve that problem and give your audio a chance to go viral. One of my favorites is WAVVE. In this video I’m touring the brand new vers

If you haven’t checked out Inside the Exorcist, now’s the time. The series is in the top 10 on Apple Podcasts (as of this writing). And it’s a solid #1 in the Movie/TV category. And it has been getting some glowing reviews, including this one from the movie/TV industry publication Indiewire: So listen here and subscribe. And please take a few moments to give the series a rating on Apple Podcasts or wherever you consume your podcast content. As you know, these efforts help sur