Digital Radio Offers Samsung ‘Multi-Million’ Dollar Deal

The commercial radio industry is trying the lure mobile phone companies to install digital DAB+ receiver chips in their phones with multi-million dollar deals.

Speaking at the Tamworth Country Music Festival's Country Music Radio Seminar this morning, Commercial Radio Australia CEO Joan Warner said that they were in negotiations with Samsung to have a digital radio chip installed in a new version of their flagship Galaxy phone.

In exchange for the chip, which is aimed at engaging younger listeners with radio while not chewing up data plans, Commercial Radio Australia have put a free “multi-million dollar campaign” on the table.

Warner said that their efforts were focused on Samsung given the growing sales of their Galaxy handset and their frustration with Apple's inflexibility to alter the phones, even certain models that already have chips in them but are not activated by the electronics giant. “Radio drives people to iTunes,” she said of the perceived advantages to the chip.

As well as opening up avenues for digital radio to reach consumers – it is now standard in Lexus cars and Toyota are rolling it out across their fleet – Warner said the CRA is actively campaigning the new Government to launch digital radio in regional areas. The scale of such a roll out would require Government assistance, she believes, but said that the Liberal party's current priority was the National Broadband Network.

Digital radio has not had as strong of a pick-up amongst consumers as digital television has had, largely because there is not set 'switch-off' date for analogue services like there was with TV.

The community radio sector has also been vocal in its digital lobbying.