Eric Williams, product manager for Sprint says the NextRadio app has really taken off, saying it provides “more robust options for our music customers.”
In a workshop on hybrid radio presented by NAB Labs, here in Las Vegas at the NAB Show, Williams said Sprint preloads the app onto a smartphone, the user clicks on the icon and is taken to the correct place to listen to an FM station.
Emmis Chair/President and CEO Jeff Smulyan said the response from consumers to the NextRadio app has been great. “Now we’re at the next level, talking with NAB. You’ll see the industry and NAB ramp this up,” he told attendees.
Smulyan told Radio World all the major radio ownership groups are onboard, and so too is NPR and American Public Media. “We hope all groups will do interactivity,” said Smulyan.
Scott Burnell, global lead, business development & partner management at Ford predicts 80% or more vehicles in the U.S. and in Western Europe will have some form of connectivity by 2017. That’s also when panelists predict Millennials will outspend boomers for the first time.
Emmis SVP/CTO Paul Brenner told Radio World now is the time for stations to go beyond the free logo and implement the interactive features of the NextRadio app. He characterized 2017 as a “generational pivot” and urged broadcasters not to wait.
