CEA President Gary Shapiro reacted negatively Friday to reports that...

device makers and carriers to include FM tuners, Shapiro said in a written statement. “But the fact that broadcasters keep lobbying Congress is telling,” he said. Trade publications recently quoted Emmis Communications CEO Jeff Smulyan as saying he thinks that putting FM chips in mobile devices will boost radio listenership by 30 percent, Shapiro said. “So, if this FM chip business is about raising stock prices and not about public safety, then we encourage broadcasters to create demand and make deals with carriers to include FM chipsets,” Shapiro said. Of the Sept. 14 meeting, NAB thinks “it’s encouraging that policymakers are beginning to better understand the public safety value of having activated radio chips in cellphones,” spokesman Dennis Wharton told us in a statement. “We understand that from a business perspective, wireless carriers prefer selling a streaming service rather than voluntarily lighting up free radio chips already installed in the phones. We're hopeful the carriers will ultimately conclude that public safety trumps profits, and that denying mobile phone customers a lifeline radio option in an emergency situation represents an untenable longterm strategy.” To “be clear,” Wharton said, broadcasters are “not seeking a mandate” on FM chips in mobile phones. “Activated radio chips are standard features in mobile phones all over the world, except the U.S.,” he said. “The reason this is important” from a public safety perspective “is that cellphone networks crash in times of emergency,” he said. “Radio uses a different transmission architecture and would still work in a crisis situation.” CTIA thinks that any solution to what broadcasters seek “must be driven by consumer preference,” Jot Carpenter, vice president-government affairs, told us in an email Friday. “To the extent that consumers don’t choose the multitude of FM-capable devices that are already available, then I would recommend the FM radio stations look to see how they can better compete with the on-demand and customizable apps such as Pandora, Spotify and TuneIn,” he said. “As far as the Wireless Emergency Alerts, it’s important to remember that CTIA, FEMA, FCC, NOAA, The Weather Channel, Texas Association of Broadcasters, Florida Association of Broadcasters, Michigan Association of Broadcasters and the Association of Public TV Stations -- for a total of 42 entities -- were a part of the decision making process when WEA was created.” NAB said that the emergency alert system and wireless emergency alerts “can co-exist as complementary components of a National Alert System as envisioned by the President.'”