Smulyan: People Want Free Radio on Their Phones

8-1-14

More NextRadio research from Coleman Insights was released Thursday. It's a study paid for by The NAB, that included 801 online interviews with 18- to 49-year-old smartphone owners who viewed a 90-second video explaining NextRadio. 63% say they would listen to local FM radio more if they had NextRadio. 45% of the participants said they ?definitely would? use NextRadio if it was installed on their smartphones; another 43% said they ?probably would? use the app. And, another  80% said they ?probably would? or ?definitely would? download NextRadio if the app was not already installed on their smartphones. Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan said, ?These findings line up nicely with the anecdotal evidence we?re seeing since NextRadio was launched. People want free, local FM radio on their smartphones and NextRadio gives them exactly what they want.?

Here are some additional findings from the Coleman Insights study. 88% had a positive reaction to NextRadio, including 56% who described their initial reaction as ?very positive? 73% of those with metered or pre-paid data plans acknowledge that such plans limited their consumption of audio entertainment on their smartphones. Low battery and data plan usage were evaluated as the most positive of NextRadio?s benefits. 92% ?strongly agree? or ?agree? with the statement, ?The NextRadio app is really cool?

A streaming video presentation and a written summary of the study?s findings are available at www.ColemanInsights.com/NextRadio. Furthermore, Coleman Insights and knowDigital will share additional findings from the study in private briefings with the consortium of radio broadcasters supporting NextRadio?s launch in the coming weeks and months.

(8/2/2014 8:22:25 AM)
i am definitely one of those people who would listen to FM radio more if i had it on my smart phone.
(8/1/2014 5:56:09 PM)
Give me a break. No mater what you try to do things are changing and the radio industry is in trouble. Outside of Radio Shack try to find any place that sells radios. You can't. Because there is no demand anymore. There is no FM Radio on smartphones because there is no demand for it. If people wanted it the manufacturers and relailers would give it to them. Radio has chosen to miss the boat by cutting back on its investment in content and going with long music sweeps followed by 10 minute stopesets or confrontational Baby Boomer talk radio. If you want to save the last shreds of what you have,stop programming for PPM and start programmijng for an audience. Oh here's a great idea. Lets implode the station and run a national sports radio network. If I owned a radio station I would sell to a consolidator for top dollar as soon as possible.
(8/1/2014 2:48:24 PM)
Ummmm... Josh? That's why you pay experts to find out what consumers think. Because there are too many people like you who make gross assumptions about "what everyone wants". Did you even read the research?

By the way, for a radio guy, you don't seem to want people to have more access to radio. Weird.

(8/1/2014 2:14:29 PM)
We've already been through this before, and it was determined long ago that that's a big, fat, stinky lie. Nobody wants radio on their phones and no matter how many times the industry tries to convince them that they do, they'll never go for it.
(8/1/2014 8:52:16 AM)
Rick,

All new HTC phones available on all major wireless carriers (including AT&T and Verizon) are FM enabled and ready for NextRadio download! To view a list of supported devices, visit www.nextradioapp.com.

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(AUDIO) Cell Phones With FM Chips Are "Dead as a Doornail."

6-12-2012

Those are the words of Consumer Electronics Association President and CEO Gary Shapiro who we spoke with yesterday about his congressional testimony on "The Future of Audio." Shapiro has been the strongest opponent of the FM chip idea, especially when it comes to involving the government. Shapiro says there is no consumer demand for the chip, radio listenership is down and he doesn't believe broadcasters when they say they are not looking for a mandate. Obviously broadcasters disagree, saying Shapiro is "just wrong."

Shapiro says the writing is on the way, 47% of people in a survey he cited in his testimony listen to radio less then they did a year ago. Listen to our interview with Shapiro HERE

Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan, who has been the driving the FM chip issue, says Shapiro is wrong and this is not dead. "We have had countless members of Congress requesting, even demanding that there be a study of this issue. He also says let the market decide. It is clear that there is no free market on this issue in the United States.  Everywhere else in the world, people can walk into stores and decide to buy a phone with an FM radio. In the US, there was no opportunity until recently, because the carriers have blocked the phones and even now, any information about phones with FM is never distribute. Well over a billion phones have been sold around the world with FM, only in the US has the consumer been denied the opportunity. Why is he so afraid of Congress studying this issue?  Why is he so afraid that chips that are already in millions of phones in this country be turned on.  People have already paid for those chips in the phones, why shouldn?t they have the ability to have access to them?"

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Do Consumers REALLY Want an FM Chip in Their Smart Phones?

5-8-2012
by Ed Ryan

I'm always skeptical of polls and surveys. It was just yesterday that one poll said President Obama has a 7-point lead over Mitt Romney. Another poll had Romney up by 4. How can that happen? Who should you believe? Plus, how do you ever really know if someone being polled is telling you the truth? Because you send them a dollar in the mail, they are going to give you all straight answers?

Results from a Harris Interactive survey, regarding the FM cell phone chip, commissioned by the NAB, were released Tuesday. Broadcasters are saying consumers want FM chips in their cell phones. You've probably read that headline in many of the other trades today. The wireless industry says there's no demand for such a thing. Who should you believe?

I live in Florida. Our house is stocked with candles, a lot of peanut butter, flashlights, buckets of batteries and more than ten radios just waiting for that next Hurricane to sweep us into the Gulf. If we lose power for 3-5 days, where would I charge my iPhone, if it even had an FM chip, so I could listen to local radio? I can listen to TuneIn now until the battery dies. I'm guessing most people will listen to their battery operated radio and save the cell phone battery for calls to family or to see if the liquor store is open yet.

The NAB has been lobbying members of Congress to get them to buy into the argument that FM chips in cell phones save lives. How could it hurt, but is that really the reason? A handful of NAB board members even attended a recent congressional roundtable discussion about the issue. It's hard to speculate where the chip issue will end up with Congress, and the NAB has backed off on any plans to ask Washington to mandate the chips in all cell phones. The wireless industry is very skeptical. It sees no need to move the idea forward, mainly because it doesn't see the demand coming from consumers. And, carriers such as AT&T and Verizon didn't even attend the congressional roundtable.

The Harris survey is part of an NAB effort to educate the public, and perhaps, politicians about the chip, which is already in some cell phones, although it's doubtful consumers that own phones with the chip even know it. The survey was conducted online in April and early May of this year and included about 4,400 participants. A 2010 survey, which the recent study is compared to, included about 2,600 adults. 70% of the 2012 respondents say it's important they have a cell phone chip in their phone during an emergency. Although it's a high percentage, that number is down from 73% in 2010.

Another question is probably the real reason broadcasters want to be on the phone. After verifying, in the survey, that 85% of the respondents either always or usually have the cell phone with them, another 78% say they would pay a one-time .30 fee so they could listen to radio on their phones without using their data plans. At the end of the day, it sounds like broadcasters just want to have a piece of that real estate just like Pandora and Slacker and TuneIn etc want a piece of the automotive dashboard real estate.

And finally, one of the more interesting statistics from this survey was the answer to the following question: How often, or at all, do you listen to your one of your local radio stations? 24% said all the time, 33% said frequently and 21% said sometimes for a total of 78% (the same as in 2010). That's a far cry from the number Arbitron consistently touts which is in the high 90's. In March Arbitron reported a RADAR survey of 395,000 resulted in a 241 million people - or 93% - who listen to radio.  It just goes to show if you survey enough people and ask them slightly different questions, mix up the age groups a little bit, you are guaranteed to get different results.

Take a look at the NAB/Harris Study HERE
E-mail me your comments directly or leave them down below.

(5/9/2012 6:15:02 AM)
Consumers don't want to be force fed FM chips in cell phones, iPods or anywhere else. Many smart phones have FM capability now that nobody is using. My HTC Incredible has an FM radio that I NEVER use...if I want to listen to a station, I use their dedicated app or one of the aggregators like iHeart or TuneIn.
(5/9/2012 6:05:46 AM)
"And, carriers such as AT&T and Verizon didn't even attend the congressional roundtable." LOL!

The point of this charade is to eventually get HD chipsets into cell phones, since the NAB Board members are investors in iNiquity.

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Beasley Says Chips in Phones Is The Right Thing to Do

High ranking radio broadcasters have rallied around a single message when it comes to getting FM chips into the fastest growing consumer product on the market..the smartphone. NAB Radio Board Chair Caroline Beasley took that message a step further Tuesday when she said, "it seems like government has a responsibility to provide access to information in an efficient way and that would be putting chips in cell phones." Beasley made that statement while sitting on a panel with two FCC Commissioners, Robert McDowell and Mignon Clyburn (who Beasley is pictured with here). It was followed by a round of loud applause from the audience.

The objective of the radio industry is to get the chips in the phones so that if a cell tower did go down during an emergency, the icon on the phone representing local radio stations would still function on the phone. Not only that but the chip delivery means the stations are not running through an online app (a stream) therefore not using the dwindling data pipes, another sidebar selling point broadcasters are using. Most consumers, these days, do not leave the house without their phones. In fact, it seems, most people do not go anywhere without their cell phones. That scenario appears to be accelerating with the next generation. Teens text each other more than they talk to each other. They share and discover news about their friends through social media, typically on the cell phones.

The Monday announcement of a new HD chip that is smaller and cheaper seems to have given the radio folks some positive momentum. What remains to be seen is whether the carriers, especially AT&T and Verizon give a hoot. And, whether broadcasters can convince carriers to part with that real estate. Most likely, if the carriers believe they can make money from the chip, they will sign on. There are two other key questions about the chip. How many broadcasters really care enough to carry the water? Will those mom and pops delivering the hurricane coverage or the tornado coverage take the time to call their local Senator or Congressman? What else can they do or should they do? Do they even know what they should do? And, finally, does John Q. Public care? Maybe not until an emergency hits and the phone goes dead. And the TV goes dead. And the power goes off.

Beasley's statement about government responsibility was probably fueled by the fact that she had just finished handing out 10 Crystal Awards to radio stations all over the country (listed in the story below). The award recognizes the great work local radio stations do all over the country serving local communities. Nearly every station that took home a trophy said, "this is what we do, we serve our communities." The issue didn't seem to get much of a charge out of the two commissioners on the panel. Commissioner McDowell stated as "handsets evolve, consumers are demanding thinner and smaller. The real estate is quite a battlefield and there is a limited amount of space. Perhaps a little reading between the lines...this thing is being fueled by the radio industry, not the consumer.

(4/19/2012 3:27:51 PM)
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ARE VERY HAPPY WITH THE SERVICE, AND THE OPPORTUNITY TO ADD TWO ADDITIONAL
FM QUALITY PROGRAMS TO TWELVE MILLION
POTENTIAL LISTENERS. HD WORKS VERY WELL AND THE AUDIO QUALITY IS OUTSTANDING. I RECALL
THAT ANALOGUE FM RADIO INITIALLY HAD SOME
TECHNICAL FLAWS WHICH WERE EVENTUALLY
RESOLVED.
(4/18/2012 1:39:53 PM)
What about chips for AM radio in cell phones?
(4/18/2012 11:18:53 AM)
How many of you own an Android smartphone? Most Android phones already come with a built-in FM tuner (all of mine have). Did you even know that? If so, how often do you use it? Perfect illustration of how important the FM-in-phone issue really is.
(4/18/2012 2:48:12 AM)
Don't people have portable battery powered radios, anymore? There are 100s of millions of analog radios.
(4/18/2012 2:44:40 AM)
It's bad enough that iBiquity/Struble has fooled the automakers into installing his flawed-technology (Artist Experience will never work properly, as iBiquity admitted it is a flawed implementation to RW. BMW and Volvo have outstanding TSBs against HD Radio for its many flaws, so you expect HD Radio to work with earbud antennas? LOL! Time for your "critical mass" IPO, Bob! It's all a number game for Stuble, the Great Chipset Salesman! LOL! I can keep this up as long as you can. Ha! Ha! No mandates!

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Beasley Says Chips in Phones Is The Right Thing to Do

High ranking radio broadcasters have rallied around a single message when it comes to getting FM chips into the fastest growing consumer product on the market..the smartphone. NAB Radio Board Chair Caroline Beasley took that message a step further Tuesday when she said, "it seems like government has a responsibility to provide access to information in an efficient way and that would be putting chips in cell phones." Beasley made that statement while sitting on a panel with two FCC Commissioners, Robert McDowell and Mignon Clyburn (who Beasley is pictured with here). It was followed by a round of loud applause from the audience.

The objective of the radio industry is to get the chips in the phones so that if a cell tower did go down during an emergency, the icon on the phone representing local radio stations would still function on the phone. Not only that but the chip delivery means the stations are not running through an online app (a stream) therefore not using the dwindling data pipes, another sidebar selling point broadcasters are using. Most consumers, these days, do not leave the house without their phones. In fact, it seems, most people do not go anywhere without their cell phones. That scenario appears to be accelerating with the next generation. Teens text each other more than they talk to each other. They share and discover news about their friends through social media, typically on the cell phones.

The Monday announcement of a new HD chip that is smaller and cheaper seems to have given the radio folks some positive momentum. What remains to be seen is whether the carriers, especially AT&T and Verizon give a hoot. And, whether broadcasters can convince carriers to part with that real estate. Most likely, if the carriers believe they can make money from the chip, they will sign on. There are two other key questions about the chip. How many broadcasters really care enough to carry the water? Will those mom and pops delivering the hurricane coverage or the tornado coverage take the time to call their local Senator or Congressman? What else can they do or should they do? Do they even know what they should do? And, finally, does John Q. Public care? Maybe not until an emergency hits and the phone goes dead. And the TV goes dead. And the power goes off.

Beasley's statement about government responsibility was probably fueled by the fact that she had just finished handing out 10 Crystal Awards to radio stations all over the country (listed in the story below). The award recognizes the great work local radio stations do all over the country serving local communities. Nearly every station that took home a trophy said, "this is what we do, we serve our communities." The issue didn't seem to get much of a charge out of the two commissioners on the panel. Commissioner McDowell stated as "handsets evolve, consumers are demanding thinner and smaller. The real estate is quite a battlefield and there is a limited amount of space. Perhaps a little reading between the lines...this thing is being fueled by the radio industry, not the consumer.

(4/18/2012 1:39:53 PM)
What about chips for AM radio in cell phones?
(4/18/2012 11:18:53 AM)
How many of you own an Android smartphone? Most Android phones already come with a built-in FM tuner (all of mine have). Did you even know that? If so, how often do you use it? Perfect illustration of how important the FM-in-phone issue really is.
(4/18/2012 2:48:12 AM)
Don't people have portable battery powered radios, anymore? There are 100s of millions of analog radios.
(4/18/2012 2:44:40 AM)
It's bad enough that iBiquity/Struble has fooled the automakers into installing his flawed-technology (Artist Experience will never work properly, as iBiquity admitted it is a flawed implementation to RW. BMW and Volvo have outstanding TSBs against HD Radio for its many flaws, so you expect HD Radio to work with earbud antennas? LOL! Time for your "critical mass" IPO, Bob! It's all a number game for Stuble, the Great Chipset Salesman! LOL! I can keep this up as long as you can. Ha! Ha! No mandates!

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DAR.fm Recordings Now Available on Phones and Tablets

DAR.fm founder Michael Robertson says, "We're opening up DAR.fm so that all personal recordings can be downloaded directly to smart phones, tablets and PCs making radio listening even more convenient because consumers can move recordings wherever they like." Currently 5231 radio stations (4817- AM/FM and 414 international/net only) are in the DAR.fm system and 16,394 unique radio shows are available for download. Previously recordings in DAR.fm (like recordings in your typical DVR) could only be streamed requiring a full time network connection to play recordings.

All accounts at DAR.fm will have new functionality to automatically downloaded their recordings to iPad/iPhone/Android/Blackberry devices. Recordings are directly moved from DAR.fm service to their devices without a PC involved and can be scheduled to happen at a predetermined time each day. Recordings are downloaded and stored to local memory where they can be played with typical 30 sec skip buttons found in DVRs. To see how this works on iPad/iPhone see this video: http://dar.fm/ipad

Downloads can happen over wifi or 3G helping users avoid data caps, spotty coverage or even no 3G service at all. Configuration options in the smart phone software can predetermine times of the day when wifi is likely available. Similarly, options allow for downloads to only happen as wifi is available for example at work or home to avoid 3G usage entirely.

Downloading is free for one show/series. If users want to record more series then that is available for $39.95/year to record up to 10 shows/series. See: http://dar.fm/premium

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Copps: "It's Time To Discuss FM Chips in Cell Phones."

The recent rash of natural disasters highlighted two very important items. The first; Radio stations become the eyes and ears of a community. Through their terrestrial signals local broadcasters stay on the air for many hours giving updates, talking to emergency personnel and provide an outlet for listeners to search for loved ones, report on their own community or just vent. It's business as usual for broadcasters. The second; power goes out, people get stranded and the lines of communication get fuzzy, overloaded and, at times, fail.

Yesterday at a workshop addressing network reliability FCC Commissioner Michael Copps said something the NAB and Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan have been saying for a very long time. He said it's time to look into putting FM chips in cell phones. "We share a duty to think creatively about how we can arm consumers with additional ways to communicate during disasters. While it may be somewhat beyond the scope of today's meeting, I'd raise just one example. I think the time is here for a thorough, calm and reasoned discussion about FM chips in handsets. We all acknowledge the need for redundancy in communications?especially emergency communications?and last week, during the earthquake, a lot of folks were only able to get  information through radio broadcasts when the phone networks got congested. What are the pros and cons of an FM chip? To what extent have other countries had experience with this? There will be a lot of questions to answer, but with the stakes so high, we should be open to discussing any and all reasonable ideas. And we must understand the sense of urgency that this requires, given the passing of a decade between 9/11 and now. Public safety has waited too long. Citizens have waited too long."

Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan who has been a big proponent of the FM Chip idea was very pleased. "For those of us who have studied this issue for so long, it is clear that in an emergency, radio is the ONLY way to alert the public. Cell systems go down, cable systems and power go out, and even when the cellular system stays up, an emergency guarantees the system will be jammed.  Radios in cell phones are ubiquitous all over the world, only in the United States have FM chips been blocked or deactivated. Today, many, if not almost all smart phones sold in the US have FM chips that have been turned OFF by the carriers. It's time to turn those chips on!"

It was also music to the ears of the NAB. "NAB welcomes Commissioner Copps's timely call for a discussion on the merits of radio-enabled smartphones. With the 9/11 anniversary looming, it's notable that broadcasting remains the unchallenged leader in delivering emergency information to the masses faster and more reliably than any other communications platform. While cellphone signals jammed and power was down during Hurricane Irene and the recent East Coast earthquake, it was the robust 'one-to-many' transmission architecture of local broadcasting that kept listeners and viewers in touch and informed. Radio chips in cellphones require no additional spectrum and could be activated immediately in many devices. From a public safety perspective alone, it's time to give citizens access to lifeline information provided by America's hometown radio stations."

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Does Radio Have a Strategy For Smart Phones?

When you get an opportunity to spend time with people using their iPhones or Android devcies, you get a real sense of how consumers have developed relationships with their device. Radio, for the longest time, has had a special relationship with consumers. Radio executives and managers, to this day, tout the bond listeners have with their local station or morning DJ. When Fred Jacobs played video of consumers he tracked in a recent study, it was more confirmation that consumers are doing nearly everything on these tiny devices. Banking, games, e-mail, making calls, using it as a flashlight, taking pictures, and yes, listening to music. But these consumers in cities like L.A., Cleveland, Baltimore, and Dallas were not telling Jacobs, "I have my favorite radio station App" on their phones. Is that a problem for radio?

Jacobs moderated a panel Tuesday at Radio Ink's Radio Tech Summit called "The Moblie CX," and it was fascinating to actually see the consumers in the video and listen to radio people react to their responses. The most mentioned "music" app was Pandora. "I've died and gone to music heaven," one consumer said. How often does radio get that reaction anymore?

Jacobs says radio can do better: "But this also speaks to the marketing challenges that many stations have in effectively communicating to their cumes that listeners can now enjoy their streams on their mobile phones. And this also presupposes that station apps are about streaming, when in fact, many apps provide much more content and resources than just their streams. In fact, from a jacAPPS perspective, we encourage stations that are designing apps to incorporate other aspects of their brands in apps to create a better consumer experience."
A member on the Jacobs panel said, "When I was growing up, WABC was my radio station. You don't hear that a lot anymore." In fact, one of the consumers in the video had several wires coming out of the dash just so he could listen to his Pandora App on his phone. Jacobs says it's about the content, and that's the way we should look at it. "Regarding Pandora, all the listeners on the video called it 'radio' or 'Pandora Radio,'" he said. "So to me, it comes down to the consumer experience. Anything that provides audio entertainment while serving to usurp radio listening or radio's presence on devices and platforms may as well be 'radio.'  Let's put it this way [Pandora founder/Chief Solutions Officer] Tim Westergren thinks it's radio, although maybe radio redefined."

So the big question remains, does your station have defined goals to compete on mobile devices? Do you have a strategy to keep your listeners tuned in when they are using that device for everything? Or are you content to allow them to leave you once they step out of the car? That is, if they are still listening in the car, and not all wired up.

feedback at edryan@radioink.com
Fred Jacobs can be reached at fredjacobs@jacobsmedia.com

(5/18/2011 5:24:46 PM)

I was reading Fred Jacobs article on radio mobile strategy...thought my email to Eric could "sum up" my thoughts of how important this is

Hello Eric...

Hope you are doing well...I would really like to talk with you about what I'm "up to". I'm working as a partner in a digital company called Mobi Tech here in SLC. Yes, yet another person left traditional radio because these big companies seemed "paralyzed" with corporate "issues". Little did I know that the multi-million dollar revenue plan I had for our cluster to develop a "mobile/digital plan" fell on "deaf ears" because the company was in the process of being sold. I would like to share my "portal" concept as it relates to your article "I want my FM". I believe if broadcasters don't embrace new media technologies they are at risk of becoming "irrelevant" in the next few years. Local radio stations have the opportunity to be a "portal" to the new digital world for their listeners...not an app but a mobile website that offers lifestyle targeted information so that listeners can continue to rely on their trusted radio station for all their needs. I agree with having FM available through your smart phone, but I think it should be through a "button" on your mobile website to keep listeners connected to the brand of your station. Here are a couple of links for you to check out...click through on your smart phone to see the full effect...

www.thecowboy1043.com
http://mobiinet.com/s/1320kfan/

PLUS...our company offers a "turn key platform" to build mobile websites for clients...this is where the multi-million dollar part comes in...can you say "NON-SPOT INCREMENTAL REVENUE"!! Just something ESSENTIAL for radio Account Managers to have in their "tool box".

I will ALWAYS be a broadcaster, it's in my blood, I'm just trying to find another way to have a positive impact. I would love to hear what you think.

(5/18/2011 1:34:36 PM)
Time will tell if pureplay internet radio is a novelty that will lose its luster or if it will revolutionize radio as we know. There are two issues that I see. 1) People love Pandora when they first begin using it and then the novelty wears off. I couldn't tell enough people about it at first. Fast forward one year and I barely ever listen to it anymore. 2) The royalty rates are so high that it will be difficult to ever make it profitable. That is the truly big problem.
(5/18/2011 11:25:12 AM)
The Subject line for the e-'pushmail' leading to this article was, "Does Radio Have a Strategy for Mobile Devices?" Clicking-through refines this to mean Smart Phones. Radio IS a mobile device, historically perhaps the first, unless you consider yelling. You can buy a radio, complete with headphones, for less than $10; sometimes they are given away as handouts for free. What's more, you don't need a "plan" to play them. Seems to me that this is the advantage that radio has right now, and probably will maintain as long as the content remains interesting and relevant.

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