Hurricane Matthew is going to test consumer use of the NextRadio app in smartphones, radio industry experts say. The FM app enables someone to listen to an FM radio station over-the-air on their device, rather than incur the data costs to stream that content.
A group that advises the FCC on alerting recently recommended to the Commission that having an FM chip in a smartphone “is a natural extension to the WEA message,” said NAB Advanced Engineering Senior Director David Layer. Wireless carriers participated in the efforts of the Communications Security, Reliability and Interoperability Council as well, he said in a webinar.
Graphic courtesy of NAB
NextRadio President Paul Brenner said consumer use of the app can be tracked. For example, during hurricanes, they can see use spikes. The effort comes as the FCC is updating its WEA rules to increase the number of characters from 90 to 360 in a message and enable other technology advances. WEA messages typically end with “please contact local media” for more information in a market. NextRadio has been partnering with content aggregator AlertFM to automate the process so the consumer can access local media at the same time they receive the WEA message. Brenner hopes to see an example by year-end.
Overall, carriers like Sprint, AT&T, T-Mobile and Verizon support the NextRadio effort in some way, by including and activating an FM chip in at least some of their product lines. Apple remains a holdout, leaving some 50 percent of the handset market without FM chips, panelists on the webinar said.
Chip activation and carrier participation is only “the tip of the iceberg,” said Brenner. When carriers do a deal with NextRadio they “typically push back and say ‘What is your industry going to do with this?’” Carriers want broadcasters to promote the fact that FM is in their handsets, he said.
Asked how the industry can get carriers to educate their sales force about the availability of FM chips in their devices, Brenner said: “You’re talking about a ‘pay to play’ space.” Carriers are happy to market a new feature “if you’re a company that’s generating revenue for them.” Otherwise, there’s no guarantee an app is going to be retained in a smartphone.
The breakthrough would be when the radio industry gets more users “and generates a check for the carriers,” otherwise, “it’s a difficult ask,” said Brenner. He urged more stations to take part in NextRadio and take advantage of the interactive benefits of the app as well.
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