NAB Backs Marketing Campaign Promoting NextRadio FM Reception App on Smartphones

Broadcasters should carry spots to educate Americans about the availability of FM radio on mobile devices, Gordon Smith, NAB president, said in a letter emailed to radio stations Thursday. On Monday, NextRadio, an app that provides a "hybrid FM experience" on smartphones, will launch a national marketing campaign promoting FM radio on mobile devices, he said. Thursday, FCC Commissioner Ajit Pai supported activating FM chips in cellphones (see 1502190057). NextRadio uses "over-the-air radio receivers in conjunction with online connectivity in smartphones to enhance the listener experience," Smith said. "With more than 1.8 million downloads of NextRadio thus far, listeners are learning that they don't have to stream or incur data charges to get the local music, sports and talk stations they love." Emmis Communications, which has been the prime mover behind promoting adoption of NextRadio, has encountered a diversity of resistance among wireless carriers in getting them to adopt the NextRadio FM reception app in smartphones, Paul Brenner, chief technology officer at Emmis, told us last summer (see 1408060043). “It seems that the varying carrier strategies have an equally varying effect on acceptance,” Brenner said.