According to Emmis chief Jeff Smulyan, radio doesn’t have an effectiveness problem, it has a perception problem, and he believes FM on cell can be just to tool to keep the focus radio’s core strengths going forward.
In answer to a question from the Indianapolis Star on changes in the radio business, Smulyan said, “The perception has changed more than the reality. The perception is it has suffered; the reality is that the consumption of over-the-air radio has held up remarkably well. We have to change that perception and use technology to our benefit, which we think we can with our FM chips in cell phones initiative. A decade from now, over-the-air radio will still be here, as it has been for 100 years. Its core strengths — localization, portability and universal, free distribution — won’t change.”
