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Coleman Insights : NextRadio Enhances Radio's Portability
July 15, 2014 at 4:37 PM (PT)
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COLEMAN INSIGHTS has unveiled the first phase of a two-part study on NEXTRADIO found that the FM chip app has the potential to address the portability needs of radio listeners. This conclusion and others were derived from one-on-one interviews in which consumers were introduced to the capabilities of NEXTRADIO.
The research was funded by the NAB and completed in cooperation with EMMIS COMMUNICATIONS, which developed NEXTRADIO and has spearheaded the radio industry’s support for its rollout. Its first phase consisted of one-on-one, in-depth interviews with smartphone owners between the ages of 20-39, which revealed a perception among many consumers that their ability to consume broadcast radio is restricted by their lack of access to devices that can receive broadcast signals.
A huge majority of these consumers claimed they have little access to radio outside of their cars, and as a result, they turn to other sources of audio entertainment when they are not driving. However, after being introduced to NEXTRADIO and using it during the interviews, they surmised that NEXTRADIO would make FM a truly mobile medium, allowing them to listen to radio while engaging in other activities during which they believe it is currently inaccessible.
“To anyone over 40 years old who grew up with transistor radios and Walkmans, the idea that radio isn’t mobile is striking,” noted COLEMAN INSIGHTS Pres./COO WARREN KURTZMAN, who conducted interviews along with KNOWDIGITAL Pres. SAM MILKMAN. “That is, however, the perception among many consumers in their 20s and 30s and it appears that NEXTRADIO has a great opportunity to address that challenge.”
“What I find most encouraging about these findings is the interest in listening to FM radio on smartphones,” said NAB EVP/Communications DENNIS WHARTON. “Consumers want radio and they want it on the devices that accompany them everywhere they go.”
A streaming video presentation of the study’s findings featuring clips from the consumer interviews is available at www.ColemanInsights.com/NextRadio. Furthermore, COLEMAN INSIGHTS will release the results of the second phase of the research -- a national, representative quantitative study of 18-49-year-old smartphone owners on their interest in NEXTRADIO -- later this month.

