CTIA Asks Consumers: Do you want FM radio on your cellphone?

On Tuesday, July 17, 2012 from 10 am-10:30 am, CTIA-The Wireless Association, stopped outside the National Association of Broadcasters building to interview random people to ask them for their opinion on something NAB is pushing on the wireless industry.

NAB thinks more wireless device manufacturers ought to include an FM chip in their cellphones and smartphones. What NAB fails to recognize is that there are already a number of cellphones and smartphones that have FM chips in them today, but most consumers don’t view this as a useful feature.

Out of the 20 people who stopped to chat, only 2 said they currently listen to FM radio on their cellphone today. The rest said no.

Then, we asked the same people if they thought the government ought to mandate an FM chip into cellphone and smartphones. 4 people said yes. The rest said no.

And there you have it. Out of 20 random people, only 2 listened to FM radio today. But that’s the point. If people want to listen to FM radio, they have that choice. But, we ought to let consumers make that choice, not NAB.