Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan was a keynote speaker at Radio Ink’s Hispanic Conference on Wednesday in Miami. Smulyan was interviewed by RBR/TVBR Editor-in-Chief Adam Jacobson and the topic was “Securing Your Station’s Smartphone Space.” Smulyan’s first statement was: NextRadio is on just about every Android phone. We don’t have Apple and that’s our last mission.” Smulyan gave a few reasons why he believes Apple has been reluctant to turn on the FM chips in its smartphones.
Smulyan says that when you have $325 billion in the bank like Apple, you don’t have to listen to a lot of people. He also believes Apple’s decision to purchase Beats Music played a role. “With NextRadio, music is free. They are worried consumers won’t spend $10 per month if the music is free. They are going to stonewall us as long as they can. That’s why we have to get our listeners to push it.”
Smulyan says this is a world in which money talks. He says NextRadio saves battery life and saves money on data so there really is no argument against turning on the FM chip. “It boils down to money. When enough people say enough is enough, things will change.”
