Big BBC Networks Pushing For Delay In RAJAR’s Electronic Measurement

David Robey, managing director of BBC Radio London, has said he believes the big BBC networks could be pushing for a delay in RAJAR’s electronic measurement of radio audiences because it works against them.

Robey made the bold statement at the Cambridge Radio Festival today, saying he is “extremely dubious about the length of the delay” and that he believes smaller stations, such as BBC Radio London, come out better under electronic measurement systems, whereas the big BBC networks fare worse in electronic tests.

“I have a conspiracy theory that [the tests] probably showed that the main BBC brands lost audience and smaller brands gained audience,” he said. “It’s not in the interests of big businesses to get worse results.

“The current system is fundamentally flawed and that’s what most people in this business are worried about,” he said, adding that BBC Radio London’s ongoing online research shows “no inconsistency whatsoever.”

Sally de la Bedoyere, MD of RAJAR, dismissed the conspiracy theory. “It’s a grave misassumption that the current system is fundamentally flawed,” she said. “What is leading you to discredit the system is probably the volatility of data, and that is always there because of the sampling, not the system.”

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