Why are readership comparisons being undermined?

In response to David Spon-Smith’s comment – ‘A CPT model has the potential to polarise the press market’ – Richard Bedwell, director at Bedwell Media Ltd, offers his views on readership metrics…

“The extra pressure that this move puts onto readership research must be a correct observation.

But being ‘off the pace’ might indicate that the NRS (or TGI for that matter) doesn’t offer a level playing field of measurement in the same way as BARB offers to TV.

But surely the fragmentation of the TV audience has undermined that claim and surely News International’s retreat into its own online subscription measurement silo is a major reason why readership comparisons are being undermined?

As all circulations/readerships decline, the desire to have less detail in the market on which to make decisions becomes inevitable.”