The Hindu Business Line : Not quite in tune

THE situation might not be as bad as radio research in the UK where key broadcasters such as SMG and TalkSport are mauling RAJAR, the acronym for Radio Joint Audience Research, but Indian Listernership Track (ILT), syndicated radio research, is certainly out of sorts when it comes to being recognised as the industry currency.

Commissioned in January this year by Media Research Users Council (MRUC), ILT is a syndicated research based on a `day after' recall method, which provides the previous day's listenership. The fieldwork and data reporting is further executed by research agency AC Nielsen ORG-MARG.

The survey covers a sample size of 8,319 respondents over 12 years of age selected randomly across the two cities of Mumbai and Delhi. The research involves daily fieldwork and the results are further projected on to the `universe' of 2.33 crore people of over 12 years of age population of both cities.

"As a council established for offering unbiased research at economical investments, we continue to pursue research in all media options used for advertising, so that the industry at large benefits by evaluating the efficiencies of each medium," N. P. Satyamurthy, Director General, MRUC, says.

Radio audience measurement prevalent in India is either syndicated or customised. In syndicated research, representatives of both the advertising and media fraternities set up a commission, which further assigns a research agency to gauge listenership. Customised research, on the other hand, probes specific issues pertaining to the research initiator.

"There is no bias factor in case of syndicated research, while in case of customised research the tendency for a skew towards the assigning broadcaster cannot be ruled out," says Mayank Agarwal, Manager (Client Services), AC Nielsen ORG-MARG.

However, despite claims of it being unbiased, only few players have come to terms with the study. There are ones who believe that the methodology has to be revised; others who don't subscribe to the aspect of radio station recall and a few others who wonder why have it at all?

Mumbai-based Mid Day's Go 92.5 FM is one broadcaster who has turned a blind eye to the study for various reasons. Radio Mirchi, while brandishing its numero uno (according to MRUC's ILT study) position in Delhi in an ad campaign, doesn't find the study matching its expectations. Red FM believes that the radio jockey is mightier than the show, and that the reports aren't doing justice to that aspect. Radio City is still hesitant about shelling out Rs 5 lakh per city ILT bills.

"Though ILT has its share of problems, MRUC is still fair and reliable in its approach. We expect them to improve on their coincidental research component, which is just about 400 respondents out of their total sample size," said Prashant Pandey, COO, Radio Mirchi.

In coincidental research, investigators report `live' findings of radio audience instead of filing reports based on the previous day's recall. Keeping the results of the methodology in view, Radio Mirchi also endorses an earnest need to shift towards advanced technologies such as portable peoplemeters and watchmeters.

However, MRUC maintains that ILT has taken off and that once the growth of the medium stabilises, it will evaluate other advanced methodologies.

"Rocket science is not required for a medium as radio in India, as yet. First is simple understanding, which is what ILT is all about. When the time is ripe for rocket science, MRUC will pioneer that as well," Satyamurthy said.

Red FM is trying hard to defend its turf in Delhi and Mumbai. Though the broadcaster is convinced about the data capturing methodology, it is peeved about the association respondents make while listening to Red FM.

"Recall method is not bad if conducted properly. The issue is what one does with the research. There is no right representation of listenership. All the study reports is brand recall instead of actual listenership," says Nishchint Chawla, COO, Red FM.

According to research investigators, Red FM is already red in the face about its colour. Radio Mirchi's aggressive advertising campaign has cost Red FM dearly, they say. Every time there is reference to Red, respondents immediately associate the station with the red chilli logo of Radio Mirchi. "Fundamentally, radio listeners usually flirt with two or three stations every time they tune in. We have recommended MRUC to mark brand jockey awareness as part of the ILT study so that we get a better picture of the audience," Chawla added.

However, even the introduction of a question on awareness of brand jockey in the `third wave' of ILT has not been put into proper use as the question asked is, `Could you please tell me the names of the radio jockeys that you are aware of?' instead of asking the respondents which radio jockey they had listened to `yesterday'. "We are ascertaining this from third wave. We shall comment with knowledge after we see the data," Satyamurthy from MRUC admitted.

Incidentally, ILT works throughout the year and runs in rounds of three months, each called a wave. While the research for the ongoing third wave is expected soon, the earlier two waves have been revelations of sorts with regard to daily listenership.

While Times Group's Radio Mirchi listenership soared 19 per cent from 49 lakh listeners in Wave-I to 53 lakh listeners in Wave II in daily listenership, Star TV's Radio City rose 9 per cent to 42.7 lakh in Wave-II. However, Living Media's Red FM increased only two per cent from 12.7 lakh to 15.6 lakh.

A radio broadcaster also said that ILT does not address niche programming formats of radio listenership. "Our programming formats lure sizeable numbers of the metropolitan youth and we receive the maximum number of calls from our listenership, but the study overlooks the qualitative aspect of these numbers," he added.

He adds that the research is yet to be taken seriously among media planners, who still put their money in what the station has to offer in terms of innovations for a particular brand as against plain listenership.

As advertisers are trying to gauge which radio station suits them the best, customised studies such as Development Research Studies (DRS) survey in Delhi has thrown cold water on them. The study reveals shocking inferences, such as that an average 68 per cent of listeners were not able to associate radio programmes with the right station. An average of 23 per cent of the listeners are not concerned about which station they listen to.

According to sources, Radio Mirchi seems to be the only radio station that has paid for the study, while the rest seem to be dodging MRUC's advances. Others like Go 92.5 FM prefer to stay away from the ILT study.

However, Satyamurthy counters, "Unfortunately, due to the high licence fees they are compelled to pay, their cash flow situation is forcing them to defer the subscription. That's it. All of them will be exploiting the wealth of ILT very soon."

As the chase for subscription gears up and the efficacy of the radio audience measurement still seems to be under a cloud, the radio industry rests in peace over the fact the situation is not as bad as the sonic doom of the West.

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