FRED JACOBS

Born and raised in Detroit, Fred Jacobs is a graduate of both the University of Michigan and Michigan State University. Early in his career, he joined Frank N. Magid Associates, and later became its Director of Research for their radio division. Jacobs married his love of rock music with audience research and joined ABC Radio where he became research director for their Owned FM stations. He went on to successfully program ABC’s WRIF in Detroit before stepping out on his own to form Jacobs Media in 1983.

Jacobs is known as a creator of the Classic Rock format, which debuted in the early 80s. Classic Rock is now heard in hundreds of markets in the U.S. and around the world.

Recognizing the emergence of digital media in the 90s, Jacobs pivoted his company toward new media, starting with nationwide Techsurveys that helped identify changing audience tastes. He and his brother, Paul Jacobs, launched jacapps, a mobile app development company in 2008.

Jacobs also created the DASH conference, connecting the automotive and radio industries. The popularity of his JacoBLOG has reinforced his place as an industry thought-leader, helping to guide and support broadcast radio’s future.