Video killed the radio star, but that didn’t stop audio from punctuating our lives. Most of the content we listen to today comes from streaming services. But hop into your beat-up sedan or sit down for a session at your favorite stylist and you might still be tuned to real FM radio stations. The broadcast industry has collapsed over the years, just as some of us now watch podcasts on YouTube, but you’ll still find plenty of news, music, and conversations on the public airwaves. Best of all, it’s free to access – no subscription required.
The fact is, most of us barely have real AM/FM radios these days. The few who do probably have them tucked away in some sort of crisis preparedness kit. In the past, our smartphones were the most practical FM tuners on the market: you just had to plug in headphones as antennas and that’s it. However, it is now extremely difficult to get FM reception to work on a smartphone, even though many devices already have a tuner. We don’t have an explanation from the manufacturers as to why this is happening, but we do know that the cellular industry hasn’t really championed FM.
How FM Radio Came and Disappeared on Smartphones
Broadcaster Emmis Communications led a consortium to include FM access on smartphones with its NextRadio app in 2013. The group convinced Sprint to include NextRadio on its devices in exchange for annual payments totaling up to $15 million. As the program progressed, CTIA, which represents network operators, noticed a lack of demand from cellular customers. Emmis ended the Sprint deal in 2016 and tried to shift its focus to phone makers, striking a deal with LG in 2017 and Samsung the following year. However, NextRadio was effectively disbanded shortly after.
FM reception on smartphones has always been limited, and this has become even stranger over time. In recent years, Samsung has only made FM available to devices sold in certain regions. A South Korean Galaxy S25 owner showed off a working radio app on Reddit, although he reported that he couldn’t record shows and specifically had to use the AKG-branded USB-C headphones that came with the phone. Presumably, this means that many Galaxy phones either have the FM tuner removed or, more likely, disabled.
Telephone modems have changed shape several times over the years. Qualcomm, a leading mobile chipmaker, launched 5G support in 2019 with a standalone modem, instead of integrating it with its flagship applications processor at the time. Quieter improvements such as multiple-input, multiple-output, and other antenna-level technologies have also led to design changes. In many cases, FM tuners and the power consumption they require are being ignored one way or another in favor of better streaming over 5G and Wi-Fi. But in regions where these resources are more scarce and consumer spending isn’t as high, you might still see FM in the picture.
