MRG Evening Meeting – The Future of Radio and Outdoor Measurement
MRG Evening Meeting – The Future of Radio and Outdoor Measurement
Last night’s Media Research Group (MRG) Evening Meeting covered the issue of machine assisted media research in two areas which have previously relied on manual collection – outdoor and radio. Derek Bloom of Poster Audience research and Jane O’Hara of RAJAR discussed possible alternatives to journal keeping and respondent recall.
Bloom, along with partner Michael Stewart, has created the Poster Audience Meter, a short range, low-powered radio device which will enable objective and effortless audience research.
The principle is that the respondent will carry a monitor around with them at all times which will record information about any poster sites passed within a 50 metre radius. This data can then be downloaded and edited by computer, removing almost all scope for human error. All the respondent need do is remember to take the device with them when leaving the house. Although the cost of such research would be high, Bloom pointed out that it would still amount to less than what is currently spent researching commercial radio audiences. The benefits would be better data which would be available quicker, recorded over 28 days, not one or seven and recorded, not remembered.
A few issues were raised regarding the possibility of recordings from people who had passed behind posters or been travelling the wrong way down a road to actually see the panel. Bloom said the subsequent inflation of figures would need to be taken into account when looking at the results.
Jane O’Hara, appointed MD at RAJAR in February of this year, spoke about recent changes in data collection and reporting, brought about by new analogue and digital stations, which have led to an overloading of diaries. The personal repertoire diary combined with a ‘one adult per household’ approach means that all possible stations can be included and that the possible skew in data caused by shared household listening can be avoided.
RAJAR have been monitoring digital radio listening via the Omnibus Survey, along with various other questions relating to listening via the net and digital only stations which will eventually be incorporated into the RAJAR survey. Two possible meters are being considered for future use – a pager device developed by Arbitron which would read encoded broadcast signals and record audio matches and a wristwatch from Telecontrol which would record station IDs by checking audio matches against reference data
Again, such research would be expensive – more than triple the current costs – and there are many questions which need to be answered before these methods are adopted. RAJAR will continue to monitor developments in electronic measuring and keep the matter under review.