Radio Broadcaster Behind FM App Says Apple Won't Unlock FM Chips Despite an Ongoing Push

are not any closer,” Ryan Hornaday, Emmis Communications chief financial officer, emailed us Thursday. Other broadcasters and FCC Chairman Ajit Pai have unsuccessfully urged Apple on the issue (see 1709280060). That company “controls the real estate inside their phones and has simply been unwilling to activate the FM chip, despite it being in their phones,” said Hornaday. “Apple always weathers this storm" of public opinion and "refuses to budge," he continued. "We will not give up the fight, but we are not winning.” Apple didn’t comment. NextRadio is giving the radio industry “a remarkable opportunity for data attribution” to enhance selling advertising, said Emmis CEO Jeff Smulyan on a Thursday earnings call. The radio station owner is “far along in discussions in changing the focus of NextRadio, with significant input and partnership from major radio broadcasters,” he said. Emmis and its radio industry "brethren" believe strongly that "if we can provide rich data analytics" to advertisers, "we can regain the strength" that radio had, even in the face of digital competition from Google and Facebook, said Smulyan. Radio historically has had the unique advantage of providing “audio messages” that “really lock into people’s heads, but because of the rich data attribution characteristics of Google and Facebook, that advantage has been lost,” he said.