Broadcasters defend push for FM radio in mobile phones

The National Association of Broadcasters is defending a much-debated proposal that would federally mandate mobile device manufacturers to integrate FM radio chips into all wireless phones manufactured and sold in the U.S. "I don't think it's a huge burden on cell phone manufacturers to add this [FM tuner] device," NAB executive vice president Dennis Wharton said in an interview with CNet, adding that in the event nonbroadcast wireless networks were to become clogged during an emergency, "there would be a public benefit to have free and local radio on all of these devices." Wharton admitted the NAB has not yet developed a detailed proposal for enacting its FM radio plan--asked whether an FM tuner would require a lengthy antenna, he said that was a question for MIT engineers to answer, not him.

The NAB and the Recording Industry Association of America proposed the FM radio mandate last week, signaling the latest chapter in the long-running dispute between terrestrial radio broadcasters and the record industry over music royalties. The NAB is battling the RIAA's push to require radio stations to pay labels and performers for the right to broadcast their songs: Existing U.S. laws demand radio stations pay royalties to songwriters, but not labels or artists. Broadcasters contend that radio airplay provides free promotion and drives music purchases and concert ticket sales, but with CD sales in steep decline, the RIAA is exploring new revenue alternatives. Broadcasters, looking to expand their audience reach, have now agreed to pay the RIAA around $100 million in annual royalties on the condition that lawmakers enforce the inclusion of FM radio chips in mobile phones and other portable devices. Congress is expected to act on the proposal sometime this fall.

A letter sent Monday to the chairmen and ranking members of the U.S. House and Senate Judiciary Committees and signed by a coalition of six technology industry organizations--CTIA-The Wireless Association, the Consumer Electronics Association, the Information Technology Industry Council, the Rural Cellular Association, TechAmerica and the Telecommunications Industry Association--urged lawmakers to resist the FM radio proposal. "Calls for an FM chip mandate are not about public safety but are instead about propping up a business which consumers are abandoning as they avail themselves of new, more consumer-friendly options," the associations wrote. "It is simply wrong for two entrenched industries to resolve their differences by agreeing to burden a third industry--which has no relationship to or other interest in the performance royalty dispute--with a costly, ill-considered and unnecessary new mandate."

For more on the NAB's defense of its FM radio proposal:
- read this CNet article

Related article:
Music royalty negotiations shift to FM radio in mobile phones