NextRadio may be the most discussed innovation in the radio industry in a long time. Like most truly noteworthy concepts, it has both admirers and detractors. But whether you’re bullish or bearish on NextRadio, you can’t argue the fact that Emmis Communications CEO Jeff Smulyan and SVP/CTO Paul Brenner and their team are making a bold effort to jumpstart the radio industry.
If you aren’t familiar with NextRadio, every smartphone, including the one you have, has a chip inside that can receive over-the-air FM broadcasts. We’re not talking streaming, but actual local radio, like a Sony Walkman was famous for back in the day. The problem is that in the majority of phones in the United States the chip is not active.
The NextRadio team is on a mission to not only get those chips activated so every smartphone can function as an FM receiver but to build an app that consumers can use that would maximize the listening experience. NextRadio comes with features that include information about the station and the song being played, as well as other interactive content and commercial displays.
Over the months, several of our previous RMI participants have pointed to NextRadio as one of the most innovative things going on in the radio industry today. So we asked Paul to share some insights on the birth of the project, how it’s progressing, and what to expect going forward.
JM: Give us a short overview of the NextRadio app.
PB: NextRadio is a free smartphone app that combines local FM radio broadcast with the Internet to create a visually engaging, interactive artist and advertising experience. With NextRadio, music and talk come to life with album art, station logos, and song and show details.
You can use the app’s Live Guide feature to see what’s playing on stations in your area in real time, browse stations by genre or frequency, set your favorites or view recently played stations. NextRadio also offers one-touch call in or text to stations; listeners can also share with the station whether they like or dislike the song being played and buy it instantly. If an artist playing on-air has an upcoming concert, you can buy tickets, add the event to your calendar and even get directions to the venue.
When ads are running on the radio, advertisers can create a simultaneous visual interaction with the customer on their phone with access to websites and coupon downloads. If a station wants to do contesting, prepopulated texts can be built into the system. Nearly every component of the station’s broadcast can become more compelling, and we know that when radio is visual and interactive, listeners are dramatically more engaged. That’s why we are dedicated to getting FM radio chips turned on in all devices, including smartphones, tablets, autos, even clock radios.
Plus, when compared to streaming music, NextRadio gets 3X better battery life and uses nominal data. And data metering is not going away. When people understand what that means and what it’s costing them, it changes their entire perception. We conducted research where half the survey respondents were metered and half were not. People without the meter thought all this digital stuff was free, but once they flipped over to data metering they said, “Hey…wait a minute.” So every day someone gets data metered is a day that makes our business proposition more attractive.
JM: Can you share usage and download statistics for the app?
PB: Currently, there are over 1.5 million NextRadio app downloads, and we are experiencing double-digit percentage growth every month. Over 11,000 FM radio stations are generating over 2 million hours of listening. We have found that NextRadio grows radio listening. Stations listened to with the NextRadio app are averaging 16 minutes of listening time per occasion, which is over 50% higher than the average here in the United States.
And we are now working with partner organizations and companies in Canada, Mexico, and Latin America to spread adoption and utilization in international markets as well.
JM: Who initially championed the cause of activating the FM chips in smartphones? What got their attention focused on the idea?
PB: Jeff Smulyan had a meeting with a few CEOs from the broadcasting industry. David Rehr, who was then president of the NAB, mentioned to Jeff that in many other countries most analog phones had radios in them and that (at that time) advanced smartphones all had the FM radio chip. Since then, we have been working on the activation of the FM radio chip in smartphones on behalf of the American radio industry.
JM: What is the biggest objection from the carriers to activating the FM chip and how do you respond to it?
PB: Their stated objection is the idea that people don’t care about radio. We have responded and shown all kinds of metrics that they do care! The real objection is that they are selling billions of hours of data, turning on the FM chip provides the same content for free.
So our ongoing meetings are focused on what radio can deliver as a business opportunity to help them in this area, and more importantly, to generate enough interest to make NextRadio a priority over other efforts. As an example, take AT&T’s recent partnership with Deezer. As part of the agreement to purchase Muve music from AT&T, Deezer became the carrier’s music offering to pre-paid customers. This is a space broadcast radio and NextRadio should have fulfilled, but the solution we offered needed more industry-wide support for content and real enhanced ad dollars.
JM: How do you address concerns about making sure the listening is captured by Nielsen when a lot of it takes place on headphones?
PB: Nielsen panelists are provided with a technical solution for earbud listening. If Nielsen and the panelists are applying this PPM solution, then FM radio measurement is captured. The NextRadio FM application does not modify or block a PPM encoder.
We also have comprehensive usage data about every single NextRadio FM listener and we do have dialog with Nielsen about the potential for using that data to supplement broadcast-based sample size with specific real-time, location-based listener data that we capture through the broadband connection of the FM listener.
JM: Explain how the metadata synchs with the broadcasts and its value to broadcasters.
PB: Quite simply, NextRadio brings the power of digital marketing to FM broadcast radio. The connectivity and interactions are measurable so a broadcaster knows what its listeners are connecting with and enjoying (or not enjoying). Further, with NextRadio reporting, we can tell broadcasters where people are listening, when, how often, how long, etc. This can be matched with demographic information from the listener to provide broadcasters and marketers precise information about who is actually listening.
JM: You have a partnership with iBiquity. Can you elaborate on the benefits for both the industry and consumers?
PB: We launched our first joint product with HD Radio at CES, demonstrating the benefits of interactive digital radio in a connected car. The demonstration platform is the first combination of both analog and HD Radio broadcasting with NextRadio services. By adding connectivity to broadcast radio, we are able to provide a rich suite of interactive services that connect people with radio like never before.
Response to the live demo could not have been better. The visual and interactive aspects of the solution resonated with folks and seemed like both a logical and compelling face for radio in a modern dash. Proponents of mobile operating systems for connected dashboards, like Google’s OAA, were excited to see a broadcast radio solution that would work as well within that software space as other Internet-based in-car entertainment. Every automotive OEM (Original Equipment Manufacturer) and Tier 1 supplier we met with at CES has requested that the NextRadio platform move quickly into their development plans.
JM: Can you explain the “Free Radio On My Phone” website and tell us how the response has been?
PB: The FreeRadioOnMyPhone.org campaign is led by NPR, American Public Media and Educational Media Foundation and presents a call to action for the carriers, Congress, and the Federal Communications Commission. The campaign urges listeners to ask their carriers to turn on the FM chips so that vital emergency information will be available to all Americans on their smartphones.
The response has been great, and continues to build momentum with alignment to the NAB. We have also received a lot of support from our friends in Washington and many broadcast stations. Back in October, FEMA Administrator Craig Fugate discussed the value of radio-enabled smartphones during times of emergency, highlighting the importance of having access to local broadcasters’ emergency information when other networks fail to work. Meanwhile, NPR launched a major on-air campaign focusing on safety.
JM: What has to happen next for the project to reach scale? Do you need Apple, Verizon and other carriers to achieve it?
PB: The last piece of the puzzle is to inform all of the 275 million Americans, age 6+ who listen to radio every week that they have an opportunity to listen for free on their smartphones. We are working on a national integrated advertising campaign with the DeVito Verdi agency, which is in its final stages of preparation. It will be a large, sustained campaign that should convince consumers and demonstrate demand to show every other wireless carrier (and our friends at Apple) that this is an idea whose time has come.
JM: Many of the people we’ve written about in this column have mentioned NextRadio as one of the most innovative things going on in our industry. Are there other innovations in or around the radio industry you’ve seen that have gotten your attention?
PB: Yes. On the technical side, people like Jackson Wang of e-Radio are truly innovating by using FM and RDS to play a role in the Internet of Things. Did anyone notice that e-Radio won an innovation award at CES 2015 using traditional broadcasting in a totally new and unique way?
JM: Is there another part of the radio industry where you think broadcasters should be focused on innovating?
PB: At some point, the issue of commercial spot load must be addressed to compete with pure-play Internet streaming. We also need more innovation tying our local audio content and mass market capability into the connected world to reach and engage directly with local listeners. Right now, most of the innovation is by third parties trying to get what we have: local content, local listeners, local sellers, local relationships.
JM: On a broader level, what is the toughest part of the innovation process?
PB: Any legacy industry will be most successful in revitalization and long term growth if they disrupt from within. We feel like this is the role of NextRadio: to lead change in an industry where we know first-hand, as broadcasters, the best way to achieve technology shifts for the benefit of everyone.
JM: What advice do you have for someone with an innovative idea that isn’t sure how to start the process of turning it into a reality?
PB: Start by looking beyond the norm, then work long and hard to make it happen. If you are simply trying to reinvent someone else’s idea or work within the guidelines of what people think of in the here and now, then you are not innovating. Consider the fact that NextRadio and FM smartphones started as an effort over seven years ago. Jeff Smulyan predicted at that time that the combination of data-metering and FM in smartphones could be game-changers for our industry so the wheels were set in motion.
Thanks to Mike Stern for writing this week’s edition of “Radio’s Most Innovative.”
INNOVATION QUOTE OF THE WEEK
“The difficulty lies not so much in developing new ideas as in escaping from old ones.”
John Maynard Keynes, British economist
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Jacobs Media has consistently walked the walk in the digital space, providing insights and guidance through its well-read national Techsurveys.
In 2008, jacapps was launched - a mobile apps company that has designed and built more than 1,300 apps for both the Apple and Android platforms. In 2013, the DASH Conference was created - a mashup of radio and automotive, designed to foster better understanding of the "connected car" and its impact.
Along with providing the creative and intellectual direction for the company, Fred consults many of Jacobs Media's commercial and public radio clients, in addition to media brands looking to thrive in the rapidly changing tech environment.
Fred was inducted into the Radio Hall of Fame in 2018.
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