This is nuts. The National Association of Broadcasters and the RIAA are lobbying Congress to mandate – mandate! – that portable electronics have FM radio receivers built in. That’s right, the NAB (whose job it is to preserve the status quo for broadcasters) wants every smartphone, mobile device and God knows what else to be able to receive FM. The Consumer Electronics Association, which represents the companies that make the devices that the consumers decide whether or not to purchase is pretty annoyed. According to Daily Tech:
CEA president Gary Shapiro [said] “The backroom scheme of the [National Association of Broadcasters] and RIAA to have Congress mandate broadcast radios in portable devices, including mobile phones, is the height of absurdity [and is] not in our national interest.”
The NAB and RIAA are playing the “public safety” card, saying people will need to have a radio to turn to in the event of an emergency. (I don’t know about you – but it would seem that having AM radio would make more sense in that case.)
This is a reactionary and absurd response to the new media marketplace. It’s equivalent to having Congress mandate that every washing machine come with a washing board, or that every car also have a buggy whip. If the consumers want FM, they will tell the companies they do. So far, there’s little outcry. The NAB isn’t interested in your safety – they’re interested in making you listen to FM radio instead of your own music choices.
