Educational Media Foundation to Enhance K-LOVE and Air1 Broadcasts for the NextRadio app

CHICAGO, July 2, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Fans of Christian radio now have a brand new way to experience the faith-based programming they love. Educational Media Foundation (EMF), owner of the nation's leading contemporary Christian brands K-LOVE^® and Air1^®, will begin using TagStation^® data services to deliver interactive content to NextRadio^®-enabled FM smartphones. The move will give its over 21 million weekly listeners an even better way to connect with their favorite stations.

NextRadio is a smartphone app that connects over-the-air FM broadcasts with the internet to give users an enhanced radio listening experience including album art, program information, and station feedback with the touch of a button. Other available points of interaction using a smartphone's built-in features include calendaring, find nearby, text messaging, visit website, and more. The NextRadio app is currently available for use with 16 different types of smartphones on the Sprint Network, including the HTC One M8 smartphone that works on all major wireless carrier networks.

TagStation is the cloud-based data service that allows radio stations to synchronize their audio radio broadcasts with images, interactive touch points and other data to create visual displays of album art, advertising and other interactive features on the NextRadio app (NextRadioApp.com), HD Radio^® Artist Experience (hdradio.com), and connected car dashboards currently in development.

"All of us at K-LOVE are excited about being on the NextRadio app," said Mike Novak, President and CEO of the K-LOVE & Air1 Radio Networks.  "Our listeners will now be able to listen to K-LOVE using a tenth of their data and get up to 3 times better battery life.  Special thanks to our friends at Sprint, Boost Mobile and Virgin Mobile smartphones as well as HTC One M8 for stepping up and partnering with K-LOVE.  Look for us on your smartphone... on the NextRadio app."

EMF joins a unified radio industry effort to provide a consistent presentation of broadcast radio on the smartphone with visual displays and interactivity that puts it on par with what today's music lovers expect on connected devices, elevating the over-the-air radio listening experience to something truly immersive. With so many music-listening options available, broadcast radio is seizing this opportunity to surpass expectations.

"The Educational Media Foundation's K-LOVE and Air1 stations bring great content additions to the NextRadio app. Consumers listen longer to FM radio when they see images that engage them. Their listeners will benefit from an entirely new way to enjoy the stations they love," said Paul Brenner who leads the TagStation effort for Emmis. "We are excited that EMF has made the commitments necessary to help revitalize the portable FM radio and build up the interactivity consumers expect."

By adding mobile interactivity to its 390 main FM signals, EMF joins an impressive list of major radio groups who see the innovation of FM-enabled smartphones as an efficient way to reach their listeners on the devices they carry every day. The K-LOVE and Air1 set-up processes are complete, and they have begun delivering enhanced visual content, giving their positive message even more reach and depth to audiences across the United States.

For information about licensing TagStation data services, contact Libby Hiple: [email protected].

About Educational Media Foundation
The Educational Media Foundation's mission is to create compelling media that inspires and encourages you to have a meaningful relationship with Christ. EMF's contemporary Christian radio brands, K-LOVE® and Air1®, are non-denominational, non-profit, listener-supported radio networks with over 400 radio signals in 44 states and can also be heard online at klove.com and air1.com.

About TagStation, LLC
TagStation, LLC is a wholly owned subsidiary of Emmis Communications Corporation (NASDAQ: EMMS). TagStation, LLC in a partnership with NAB Labs has developed the NextRadio® smartphone app which provides a rich FM radio listening experience on a smartphone using a combination of the smartphone's built-in FM tuner and the internet. It has also developed TagStation®, the cloud-based data service for enhanced radio broadcasting through HD Radio's Artist Experience® and the NextRadio smartphone app. Founded in 2013, TagStation, LLC is headquartered in Indianapolis, IN with offices in Indianapolis and Chicago, IL. For more information about TagStation®, visit TagStation.com.

SOURCE Emmis Communications