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

If you’re trying to grow radio ad revenue (or ad revenue from any audio or video platform), you should watch this presentation from Veritone Media’s Ryan Steelberg.  It will change forever your sense of what you can sell and how you can sell it. Ryan was one of the speakers at hivio 2016. And if you’re trying to spread your content across platforms (and who isn’t?), this video is for you, too. Veritone Media’s big data solution ingests and indexes all of your content, and tha

Kim Kardashian has great talent after all. And… Publishers spanked by Facebook’s changing newsfeed algorithm. It’s episode 45 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Plus, rants and raves about the grand opening of Kelloggs All Day Cereal Cafe, PBS’s Capitol Fourth TV fakery, Lyft’s “Ghost Mode,” and an easy way to put your podcast on YouTube. Listen as we go inside media to reveal the ugly truth! Click the play button below: A

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

Is podcasting the hot new thing? Maybe. But it is not the hot everything, not even when it comes to audio. Look at Facebook, a platform that was driven primarily by text until recently, when it became driven primarily by images and later by video. Now the big news is that Facebook is pivoting towards LIVE video. Facebook is reportedly tweaking their algorithm so that you’ll see a lot more live video in your newsfeeds. According to a company post, “Facebook Live videos are mor

Have you checked out the Media Unplugged podcast I do with Tom Asacker? If not, the holiday season is a great time to catch up. Just go here for the iTunes link (other links are below). We reveal what’s really happening in media. And so far, the ‘cast has been good enough to be distributed by Media Village, NetNewsCheck, the prestigious American Marketing Association, and more. Maybe you’re missing something! About this new episode (the last of 2015): Meet your new cable comp

…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

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.

How to make Buzzfeed-style videos – but SHOULD you? And… Is the ESPN bubble about to burst? It’s episode 24 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Plus, rants and raves about Staples’ school supplies designed by actual students, a wacky marketing lesson from Donald Trump, and a horror movie podcast so bad it’s great! Listen as we go inside media to reveal the ugly truth! Click the play button below: And if you’re reading this

How the media got the Brian Williams story all wrong. And… Hey newspapers! Want a younger video audience? Try a sock puppet! It’s episode 13 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Plus, Tom rants about Cindy Crawford’s face and so much more, while Mark rants about HLN’s pathetic “News and a Movie” 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

What does Facebook’s aggressive move into video mean for their future? And YouTube’s? Also: It’s a trend – publishers as platforms, where fans make content but publishers make bank. It’s episode 10 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. For show notes go to the Media Unplugged site.

Is online video killing the TV star? Absolutely not! Also: What does it mean when the debut novel from a YouTube star breaks records and outsells even Harry Potter? It’s episode 9 of Media Unplugged with branding authority Tom Asacker and media strategist Mark Ramsey. Listen as we go inside media to reveal the ugly truth! And if you’re reading this by email, click here for the audio. For show notes go to the Media Unplugged site. Don’t forget to subscribe to Media Unplugged a

It’s episode 4 of Media Unplugged, and Tom Asacker and Mark Ramsey reveal the secret to BuzzFeed’s video success and uncover the real story underlying Netflix’s attack on the movie business. First, we discuss the magical pixie dust that makes BuzzFeed’s viral videos go viral and what that has to do with tapping consumer desire. Second, Netflix fires a bullet to the heart of theatrical distribution with their first-ever original motion picture, a sequel to Crouching Tiger, Hid

hivio is the audio future festival, and it streams LIVE from San Diego on Wednesday, June 4, 2014, beginning at 8:30 am PT New Ideas, Inspiration, and Compelling Q&A for Radio, Online Radio, Digital Audio, and Podcasting. Mark Ramsey talks LIVE with SiriusXM’s Tim Sabean, InnoVision’s Ric Militi, Southern Cross Austereo’s Craig Bruce, Growth Hacker and Author Mark Middo, Former Pixar Story Artist Emma Coats, the Content Marketing Institute’s Robert Rose, Pandora’s Doug Sterne

Want to hear some great ideas on the future of radio and the role of what we sometimes call “podcasting” in it? Then watch this video. It’s the New Media Show from Geek News Central with Todd Cochrane and Rob Greenlee, and I am their featured guest this week. We cover a TON of ground in this conversation, including… How should Apple’s iTunes Radio and Podcast app evolve? Why radio should consider podcasters to be their “farm team” A strategy for radio to monetize the most pop

As media mix and match, as edges smudge and barriers topple, it’s inevitable that the original audio medium becomes enhanced with pictures and even video. Not only will this be more engaging to consumers, but it will be more valuable for advertisers. Case and point: SoundCloud. This week the company announced a beta “Pro Partner” tier for uber-content makers, rolling out with folks like Snoop Lion, Red Bull Sound Select, Chris Hardwick’s Nerdist, The Grammys, Kevin Smith’s SM

One of the greatest challenges for ALL traditional media – radio, TV, and print – is what I’m calling the “mediacizing” of brands.” As our client brands create content via media these brands become media, and as brands become media we have to ask: Where does that leave traditional media brands? Will big brands need radio (or TV or print) when they are their own media and can create their own content? Just today, the New York Times reports on the “mediacizing” of Oreo, a Times

Sometimes we have this weird notion that platforms are places for us to put the same stuff everywhere. They’re not. The way to make your content “pop” is to re-imagine it for every platform where it appears.  It’s not the same thing someplace else. It’s something new someplace else – inspired by its original form, but not limited to it. Think re-imagined, not re-purposed. That’s how to make your content “pop.” Watch: Prefer audio?  Try this: Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (ve

Now that’s a post title which speaks for itself. And by “which is better?” I don’t mean “which is more accurate?” I mean which is better for our clients? And the answer is not at all what we might assume. Watch: Prefer audio?  Try this: Audio clip: Adobe Flash Player (version 9 or above) is required to play this audio clip. Download the latest version here. You also need to have JavaScript enabled in your browser. Download mp3 (You can subscribe to all the MRM video and audio

The title of the piece in USA Today says it all:  “YouTube spends $100 million to redefine TV.” Beginning this month, YouTube is gambling $100 million that by seeding professional production firms such as Young Hollywood — whose slate of YouTube-only programming premieres Monday — it will draw more eyeballs for longer viewing sessions. YouTube is a massive distribution channel, but not a creator of content.  So what to do?  How about invest in content creation!  And so they a