Do Mobile Users Value Ability to Listen to Radio?

A new survey commissioned by the National Association of Broadcasters, and conducted by Harris Interactive, found that 76 percent of respondents would consider paying a one-time fee of 30 cents to gain access to their local radio stations through their mobile phone.

The results obviously are touted as evidence for embedding broadcast radio capability in every mobile phone. One might argue the reverse is true. A "one time fee of 30 cents" is tanamount to no demand, one might argue.

For many--perhaps most--people, that is far less than the amount of money repeatedly donated to strangers on the street, at stop lights, to animal adoption services when buying pet food or at grocery stores for various charity campaigns sponsored throughout the year.

Those amounts are given in return for nothing at all tangible. So to say respondents to a poll "might" consider paying 30 cents, one time, to listen to radio on their mobiles arguably means less than nothing. It means people really do not value the feature all that much.

About 66 percent of adult respondents indicated that they would listen to local radio stations on their cell phones if that feature was available. Among all adults, young adults are even more likely to use this feature. Seventy-one percent of adults age 18 to 34 say they would use a built-in radio to listen to local radio stations on their cell phone.

One wonders if the base of users who already have had such features for years actually behave that way. Do you know anybody who listens to the radio on their mobile phone?

To be sure, Nokia estimates that 77 percent its customers who use the radio feature tend to use it about once a week. What isn't so clear is what percentage of FM-radio-equipped mobiles Nokia has in service actually use the radio feature at all.

In Asia and Latin America, people prefer FM radio over texting, cameras and even the Web, so logically, so should Americans, one might argue. Those markets aren't the same as the U.S. market.

Do people in the United States really want to access FM radio using their mobiles? It's just anecdotal, but I've been able to do so, on multiple devices, for years. I've never done so, perhaps in part because I rarely listen to the radio, even in the car. I have no idea whether that is typical behavior.

Sirius XM? That's a different story. Sirius XM gets used.

The point is that, from one standpoint, consumer willingness to consider paying 30 cents, one time, to use a feature is not quite an endorsement of the value of the feature. That's less than the cost of one song purchase. And way less than much-larger amounts people just give away, every day, for virtually no tangible reward.