Unprecedented coordination by radio broadcasters led to
today’s announcement that Sprint will begin installing the NextRadio®
application in a broad array of FM-enabled wireless devices over the coming
years, allowing consumers to listen to their local radio stations on their
smartphones.
"Today we set a new course as an industry, one that
will bring exciting audience and advertiser engagement opportunities,"
Emmis Chairman & CEO Jeff Smulyan said.
"This announcement is a credit to the entire radio industry, which
has unified to make this happen."
The announcement by Sprint also marks the official launch of
NextRadio®, the smartphone app that delivers a highly interactive artist and ad
experience to FM-enabled smartphones.
Data for the NextRadio app is supplied by TagStation®, the
cloud-based engine that offers stations the ability to upload branding images
that will display as default artwork in the NextRadio app, as well as call
letters, format, station name and slogan. This basic, free level of station
integration is open to all radio stations and creates a compelling experience
within the app as the user is able to quickly associate their local stations
with familiar visuals while browsing.
"Whether the station is large market, medium market,
small market, commercial or non-commercial, this free service will provide
listeners with a visual radio listening experience on the FM-enabled
smartphone. Radio stations no longer have to add the cost of Internet Streaming
to get local FM radio on a mobile device," said Paul Brenner, Emmis’ Chief
Technology Officer and President, NextRadio, LLC. "Adding full TagStation capabilities
allows radio stations to offer listeners features like album art and artist
information, listener feedback, song tagging capabilities, enhanced advertising
options and social integration, which dramatically enhance the listening
experience."
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