Seventy percent of cell phone and smartphone owners aren’t interested in receiving FM radio broadcasts on their phone, according to a new survey from the Consumer Electronics Association (CEA).
The study, “FM Tuners for Cell Phones — Measuring Consumer Interest,” found most consumers aren’t interested in having FM tuners in their mobile devices, and an even broader majority (80 %) doesn’tt support a government mandate that would force manufacturers to include an FM tuner in mobile phones.
Published accounts indicate that broadcasters, in conjunction with record labels, have proposed to Congress a compromise performance royalty plan that would include a mandate that all mobile phones sold in the United States include a radio tuner.
“With broadcasters asking Congress to force consumers to buy mobile phones with FM radios built in, we thought it was time to ask consumers what they want. This study proves there is little consumer demand for radio-capable cell phones and consumers don’t want the government telling them what features their phones should have,” says Gary Shapiro, CEA (http://www.CE.org) president and CEO. “For those few consumers who want a radio in their mobile phones, manufacturers offer several dozen such devices that are already on the market.”
CEA’s study also found three in four (75%) U.S. adults agree that designs of consumer electronics products should be determined by manufacturers and not by the government. Consumers reject government mandates for products and features of their devices even beyond mobile phones and FM tuners.
“Americans continue to want consumer electronics (CE) products designed by market demand rather than government mandates,” Shapiro says. “The CE market is the most innovative and growing sector in our economy. We understand that radio broadcasters are facing competition from new services and technologies, but rather than rely on government mandates, we encourage broadcasters to provide innovative services that Americans actually want to use. CEA and its member companies encourage Congress to leave such unwanted and unnecessary mandates out of any performance royalty legislation.”
“FM Tuners for Cell Phones — Measuring Consumer Interest” (September 2010) represents the findings of a national telephone survey conducted between Aug. 26-29, among a sample of 1,257 adults. The survey was conducted among two independent non-overlapping national probability samples — one for landlines and one for cell phones — to ensure the data is representative of all U.S. adults.
