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

Is A&E creating cultural brands – or blowing smoke? And…Martin Scorcese doesn’t understand Rotten Tomatoes – and the feeling is mutual. Plus, rants and raves about Blue Apron’s new podcast (have you really been hungry for that?), the mental health challenges unique to musicians (or are they?), and what happens when a child’s “Anne Frank” Halloween costume becomes controversial and is re-labeled (hint: Nothing, unfortunately). It’s episode 73 of Media Unplugged with branding a

Apple’s TV strategy revealed! And… Video wins online – but where’s the money? Plus, rants and raves about Dyson’s move into electric vehicles, the scale of Amazon’s investment in Alexa, 12 questions that will change your life, and my own new podcast about the people and the making of the movie The Exorcist. It’s episode 72 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 p

This was the headline: “Fox adopting YouTube’s Six Second Ad Format.” “This is the first time that a broadcast television company has committed to the ad format, which YouTube introduced last year,” the companies said. That means Fox TV will be airing six second spots across its platforms, including linear television. And don’t think that this trend will stop there, folks. At my hivio event last year I presented research which explicitly tested what consumers – listeners – wa

What upfronts reveal about the TV business. And… Will there be a Netflix of Podcasts? Plus, rants and raves about the return of Biz Stone to Twitter and what happens when your date texts during a movie and the Justice System intercedes. It’s episode 64 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. This episode is brought to you by StackAdapt, an omnichannel digital advertising platform that helps brands accelerate customer acquisitio

How to win the war for attention. And… I am Keats, and so are you! Plus, rants and raves about TV promos missing the boat, and what happens when the company that makes checks thinks they can convince millennials to use them. It’s episode 57 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. Sam

Deflating fake news hysteria on Facebook. And… Who needs facts when you have belief? A shockingly thoughtful conversation about the role of facts in marketing – and in Presidential elections. Plus, rants and raves about the voter who was determined not to know who the election winner was, the vast time wasted by people looking for something to watch on TV, and the huge number of small businesses that claim to use social media for marketing, yet don’t have their own Facebook p

Millennials say “out with blogs, in with podcasts!” And… Is TV doomed – thanks to ad blockers? Plus, rants and raves about “lit-bait,” the 4-year-old with the most-viewed YouTube channel in the world, and the final word on whether or not removing naked ladies was a smart move for Playboy magazine. It’s episode 50 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

Howard Lapides is a veteran of radio. As CEO of Lapides Entertainment, Howard is now managing writer/producers, talk show hosts, authors, comedians, and actors, as well as executive producing a variety of shows, like VH-1’s highly successful “Celebrity Rehab” franchise, Comedy Central’s “The Man Show,” and “LoveLine” on MTV. Among Howard’s first words to the audience: “Radio as you learned it is gone, but radio is not gone.” Howard is a keen observer of the radio space and a

Is your media business DOOMED? Maybe not… And… Saturday Night Live says the future of advertising is NOT ads. It’s episode 42 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Plus, rants and raves about the coming collapse in broadcast TV advertising…despite a record year? And the fuzzy math assumptions about ad spend vs. consumption time. Listen as we go inside media to reveal the ugly truth! Click the play button below: And if you’re

Surprise! Distribution is KING! And… Time is running out for Big Media. It’s episode 39 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Plus, rants and raves about an app that allows you to exchange your time for money, the ridiculous idea that movie review ratings should correlate to box office performance, and Neil Patel’s amazing Instagram experiment. Listen as we go inside media to reveal the ugly truth! Click the play button below

…and what TV learned from the Serial podcast. Disruption is rampaging through the TV industry, and there are a lot of lessons there for radio. That’s according to a great source: TV Guide Executive Editor Michael Schneider, who also c0-hosts the excellent KCRW podcast The Spinoff. Mike spoke with me at hivio, the audio future festival in Los Angeles. Here are just some of the questions we covered: How do TV people see audio? What can the audio space learn from the TV space? W

Anyone who knows me or who has been following this blog for a while knows that I am a champion for the primacy of unique and compelling content. You see, media is really about two things: Content and distribution. And distribution channels are inherently dumb conduits that need to be filled with the stuff audiences care about: Great content. That’s true of all dumb conduits, whether they be digital, analog, TV, podcasting, or radio. I have long argued that unique and compelli

Apple says the future of TV is apps – but is it? And… Why is Verizon launching a video service nobody is asking for? It’s episode 27 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Plus, rants and raves for the ubiquity of all things “artisanal,” the 23rd Annual Sports Fan Loyalty Index, MTV’s gangbuster ratings performance for the VMA’s – on Snapchat, and the delightful inappropriateness of Nicki Minaj’s wax figure at Madame Tussauds.

Recently one of my radio clients explained how his 20-year-old daughter uses radio: “She chases her favorite songs around the dial,” he said. For her, every station button is another chance at hitting the proverbial jackpot. Either I land on a song I love or I don’t. And if I don’t, I move to the next button. It’s radio as slot machine, and – like a slot machine – the odds are better than even that any given spin is a loser. But this is the behavior of someone who is using ra

Is the new Golden Age of TV…over? And… Who’s to blame for Internet bile? Advertisers, of course! It’s episode 26 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Plus, rants and raves for the Gossip Revolution, Star Wars-themed lands coming to a Disney park near you, and more. 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. For show notes

Is the new Apple Music a mess? And… The new marketing muscle of your favorite movie stars. It’s episode 21 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Plus, rants and raves about Kaitlin Jenner’s first name, the mismatch between social media performance and actual TV ratings, and the journalist who tricked media outlets into believing that chocolate makes you thin. Listen as we go inside media to reveal the ugly truth! Click the pl

Last week Seth Godin penned a piece titled “Discovery Fatigue.” In it he argued that a little bit of discovery goes a long way, and the zeal to discover at the beginning of something wanes as time and life go on. Seth offers three reasons for this: First, once you’re busy with what you’ve got, it diminishes the desire to get more. Second, discovery is exhausting. Putting on a new pair of glasses, seeing the world or hearing the world or understanding the world in a new way is

Interruption marketing is bad. Right? People hate ’em – those ads that stop you from enjoying the content you love – blah! But wait, if this type of advertising is so bad – so hated, then how come there’s more of it now than ever? There are more spots on TV than ever. In 2009, for example, cable networks averaged 14 minutes and 27 seconds per hour. Last year, the average was 15 minutes and 38 seconds. Meanwhile there are more spots on radio than ever. There are more spots on

Despite the rise in podcast usage there are still a ton of people who don’t know what podcasts are and couldn’t care less. Why? This week in our twice-monthly podcast Media Unplugged, Tom Asacker and I discussed (among other things) how it could be that Seinfeld, an almost twenty-year-old TV show that has been re-run umpteen times, could be worth $90 million in streaming rights fees. $90 million?! So what does that have to do with the growing pains of podcasting? A lot, I thi