Sprint’s Boost Mobile puts FM on first model.

Story by Inside Radio

The radio industry’s deal with Sprint to install FM on 30 million phones over the next three years won’t just put broadcast radio on its flagship brand’s handsets. Sub-brand Boost Mobile will also install or activate FM. Moto G is will become the first model to preload the NextRadio app that wakes up FM capabilities.

The handset made its debut yesterday, and the Motorola phone will arrive in Boost Mobile stores on January 20. The Moto G has a 4.5-inch HD screen that will make the visual elements for stations serving content easier to see. Sprint is also putting NextRadio on its Virgin Mobile sub-brand. Sprint, the nation’s No. 3 mobile carrier, also sees an opportunity to differentiate itself in the entertainment space. “The broad marketplace cares greatly about music and there are lots of people that want to be able to listen to local FM radio wherever they are,” Sprint VP of product management and logistics David Owens told Inside Radio in a recent interview. “It’s about giving consumers another unique service for the music that they like and the local DJs that they love.”

Like with other smartphones, Sprint says the built-in Moto G’s FM tuner will use three times less battery life than streaming apps. As a value-focused brand, to entice consumers to switch to Boost Mobile the new phone will be offered on the carrier’s no-contract $55 monthly unlimited plan.

NextRadio developer Emmis said two weeks ago that the app has been downloaded 95,000 times so far with more than 5,700 FM stations accessed by users who’ve so far logged 53,000 hours of listening time.