IRS Stories

8/8/2019 IRS Stories

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STORY 1:

IRS 2010 Q1 report: Print retains its reach; TV & Internet grows;

Radio declines

Media Research Users Council (MRUC) has released the first quarterly report of the IndianReadership Survey (IRS) for 2010. IRS 2010, Q1 provides insights about the media consumptionhabits of Indian consumers and the overall interaction of the Indians with various media. Thestudy has been conducted by Hansa Research in collaboration with MRUC.

The report points out that the time spent on traditional as well as modern media is going up. Anaverage Indian, who interacts with media, spent 125 minutes on various media platforms in 2010;as opposed to 117 minutes spent in 2006 a growth of around 7 per cent.

"Almost everywhere, there has been a growth in timespent by gender, by almost all age groups, as well asby SEC groups. Also, women are driving thisphenomenon more than men," says the report.

The study highlights that the time spent by the olderage groups has increased at a higher rate, as comparedto the younger age groups. The growth amongst theolder age groups (more than 50 years of age) is closeto twice the national average.

Though the time spent has gone up, the reach of mediahas remained almost stable. While print continued tohold its ground a slight decline from 38.7 per cent in2006 to 38.4 per cent this year; reach of televisionincreased from 54.7 per cent in 2006 to 56.8 per centin 2010 while internet have shown a slight increasefrom 1.5 per cent in 2006 to 2 per cent this year. Onthe other hand, radio has seen a de-growth in reach,but has increased in terms of time spent. If the reach ofradio has decreased from 21.2 per cent in 2006 to 20.2per cent in 2010, on an average, Indians who listen to

the radio are now spending eight minutes more on the medium, as compared to 2006.

The growth in time spent on media is significantly driven by the country's vast rural population.Families living in kuccha or semi-pucca houses, where the head of the family has no or low

education, have been the primary growth drivers.

As far as print is concerned, the average number of publications read has come down from 1.9 in2006 to 1.6 in 2010. "Reach may not be the issue; frequency could be. This is true for publicationsof all periodicity, save dailies," says the report.

The report also brings forth the global trends in the print industry, which clearly suggest that printin its classical form is declining, largely due to higher interactions with the internet. "To overcomethis adversity, most print organisations are embracing the internet to protect their revenue base,some more successfully than others," says the report.

According to the study, internet is not easily accessible across India; and the growing population,

along with the growing literacy rate, will bring in new readers to the print industry. Therefore,though the print industry might face challenges; but it will alter its strategies to find a way throughthese turbulent circumstances.
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The key action will revolve around relevant and differentiated content, including decentralised andlocalised printing; targeted and flexible content; and small print runs (but still economically viable,

due to improvements in technology).

Additionally, MRUC has also decided to conduct the Indian Readership Survey on a quarterly basisfrom this year onwards, as opposed to the twice-a-year format that it followed till last year.

Hansa Research, the research agency which designs and conducts IRS, has added many value-adds the list of IRS innovations such as IRS Sampling Districts (ISD), telephonic SEC A re-estimation survey, Household Premiumness Index (HPI), Guide to Indian Markets, IRS Local AreaPotential (iLAP), Sub-metro reporting and others.


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STORY 2:

Special:IRS 2010 R1: No major change in readership amongst top

10 publications

After reporting a marginal growth in total readership in the last round of IRS, Dainik Jagran, theNo. 1 publication in the country, has again lost a few readers. In the last round (R2, 2009), it hadgained around 2 lakh readers, but in this round it has lost around 5 lakh readers. From 5.66 croretotal readers in R1, 2008, it has come down to 5.43 crore in the current round.

Dainik Bhaskar, the No.2 publication of the country, has added around 4 lakh total readers in thecurrent round (R1, 2010) in a way trying to compensate the 5.9 lakh readers, it had lost in theprevious round (R2, 2009). In R1, 2009, it had also lost around 2.8 lakh readers, but had gainedaround 33 lakh readers in both the rounds of IRS 2008. Currently, its total readership stands at

3.34 crore around 14 lakh readers more than IRS 2008, R1.

The No.3 position amongst the top dailies has been regained by Hindustan. The Hindi daily hasadded around 14 lakh readers in the current round (R1, 2010). In the previous four rounds of IRS(R1&2, 2009 and R1&2, 2008), the newspaper had added 44 lakh total readers. In the currentround, its total readership stands at 2.94 crore.

Amar Ujala, which has been pushed to the No.4 position, in the current round has lost around 3lakh readers. In R2, 2009, the Hindi daily had gained around 4 lakh readers compensating for the9 lakh readers, it had lost in the previous two rounds (R1, 2009 and R2, 2008). Its total readershipnow stands at 2.87 crore.

The Marathi daily, Lokmat has retained its No.5 position which it had gained from Daily Thanthi inR1, 2009. The newspaper which has added close to 10 lakh readers in the previous two rounds has

added another lakh in the current round. It total readership in R1, 2010 is 2.33 crore.

Daily Thanthi, at No.6, has added around 1 lakh readers in the current round. This is a positiveindication for the Tamil daily as it had been losing readers in the previous few rounds. In the lastfive rounds of IRS, it had lost around 6 lakh readers. Its total readership now stands at 2.03 crore.

Dinakaran, another Tamil daily has also added 4 lakh readers in R1, 2010 thus compensating forthe 4.5 lakh readers it had lost in the previous two rounds (R1&2, 2009). However, the newspaperhas still to make up its previous losses. Two years ago, in R1, 2008, the newspaper had 1.7 croretotal readers which is now 1.67 crore.

Ananda Bazar Patrika which had been enjoying a roller-coaster ride in the previous few rounds,has maintained a status quo this time with 1.53 crore readers. In R2, 2009, the Bengali daily had

also lost around 1.7 lakh readers. In the previous round (R1, 2009), the Bengali daily had addedaround 1.21 lakh readers, however in the round before that, it had lost around 1.7 lakh readers.

Eenadu, at No.9 which had moved up by one position in the previous round pushing RajasthanPatrika to No.10, has also maintained a status quo from the previous round with 1.47 crorereaders. In the last few rounds of IRS, the newspaper had gone through a few ups and downs inreadership. While it had gained around 5.02 lakh readers between R1, 2007 and R1, 2008, it lostaround 7 lakh readers in the next two rounds (R1, 2009 and R2, 2008). However in R2, 2009, theTelugu daily has added around 6.7 lakh new readers.

Rajasthan Patrika, which had lost around 68,000 total readers in R2, 2009, has gained around 2lakh readers in the current round. In R1, 2009, it had gained 52,000 readers, but in R2, 2008, theHindi daily had lost around 3.4 lakh total readers. Currently its total readership stands at 1.42crore.


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The Times of India, India's No.1 English daily is at No. 11 with a total readership of 1.34 crore. Inthe last two rounds it had added around 2 lakh readers but this time it has lost around 83,000

readers.

Replacing Malayala Manorama at No. 12 is Telugu daily Sakshi which has gained around 4 lakhreaders in the current round. From 1.25 crore total readers in the current round, it has gone up to1.29 crore.

Malayala Manorama which had added around 3 lakh readers in last round (R2, 2009) has lostequal number of readers in the current around thus going back to where it was a year ago atotal readership of 1.26 crore.

Daily Sakal, the Marathi newspaper is at No. 14 with a total readership of 1.14 crore a loss of 1lakh readers followed by Punjab Kesari at No. 15 with a total readership of 1.05 crore a gain of 1lakh readers.

(Total Readership includes any reader who has read any of the last six issues, where as averageissue readership includes only those readers, who have read the last issue.)


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STORY 3:

IRS 2010 Q1: Top magazines, except Pratiyogita Darpan, continue

to lose readers

The last four rounds of the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) in 2009 and 2008 saw acontinuous decline in the readership of all the top 10 magazines. The trend continueswith the Q1, 2010 as well.

The last five rounds of IRS including Q1, 2010 have seen the total readership of SarasSalil, the No.1 amongst magazines across languages, decline from 97.77 lakh in R1,2008 to 64.13 lakh in Q1, 2010. Thus, the magazine has lost 33.64 lakh readers in thisperiod -- a loss of around 34 per cent. The Hindi fortnightly has lost as many as 2.2 lakh

readers in the current round (Q1, 2010) over R2, 2009.

The Tamil weekly, Kumudam continues to hold on to its No. 2 position,

with a total readership of 61.24 lakh readers. The magazine has lost

around 13.21 lakh readers between Q1, 2010 and R1, 2008. Its total

readership has declined from 70.14 lakh to 61.24 lakh in this period

a loss of 18 per cent.

The Malayalam fortnightly, Vanitha is at No. 3. It has lost around 2.64

lakh readers in the current round, after almost maintaining status quo

(it had lost 0.4 per cent readers) in the last round (R2, 2009). In fact,

in R1, 2009, it had gained 2.62 lakh readers; while in R2, 2008, it had

lost about 2.47 lakh readers. Currently, it has about 57.08 lakh

readers 18 per cent less than the 59.82 lakh readers in R1, 2008.

The fourth most read publication in the country is India Today English,with a total readership of 54.73 lakh readers. Since R1, 2008, thegeneral interest magazine has lost 20 per cent of its readers, that is,around 14 lakh readers. The biggest loss was in R2, 2008, when it lostmore than 7 lakh readers. However, since then, the English magazinehas been trying to minimize its losses, and has lost about 2 lakh

readers in each subsequent round.

RS Suriyanarayanan, media director, LMG, correlates the decline in readership of themagazine with the visible changes in consumption habits of readers at large. He says,"It's no secret that the reading habit is coming down, with consumers shifting to otherimmediate means of consuming news, including news channels and Internet amongstothers." He predicts that the growth of magazines will come mainly from niche genres.


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With a total readership of 53 lakh, Tamil weekly Kungumam is at No. 5. It has lost close

to 20.75 lakh readers (28 per cent) in the last five rounds of IRS. Its total readership in

R1, 2008 stood at 73.75 lakh readers, which has come down to 53 lakh in Q1, 2010.

At No. 6 is India Today Hindi, which has recorded a total readership of 48.51 lakh aloss of 18.1 lakh readers since IRS 2008 R1. In the current round itself, the Hindigeneral interest magazine has lost around 5.56 lakh readers. In fact, with negative

growth of 27 per cent, its readership is declining at a faster rate than in the case of theEnglish edition.

Hindi publication, Grih Shobha is at No. 7, with a total readership of 45.81 lakh. Thepublication has moved up a spot this year. However, between R1, 2008 and Q1, 2010,the Hindi magazine has lost about 30 lakh readers -- a loss of 40 per cent.

Women's interest magazine, Meri Saheli is at No. 8, with a readership of 44.9 lakh. Overthe last five rounds, the magazine has lost as many as 15.06 lakh readers.

The only publication that has added more readers to its fold is Hindi magazine,Pratiyogita Darpan, which serves as a general knowledge guide for various competitive

exams.

Pratyogita Darpan, at No. 9, has recorded a total readership of 44.48 lakh in IRS 2010Q1, thus adding another 1.61 lakh readers over 2009, R2, when its total readershipstood at 42.87 lakh. In fact since R1, 2008, the magazine has added around 2.24 lakhreaders a growth of 5 per cent.

AS Raghunath, media consultant, says, "Pratiyogita Darpan is tailor-made forcompetitive exams and should not be compared with the general news magazines. TheHindi magazine has a footprint across the Hindi hinterland, including Bihar, Jharkhand,Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, where a large section of readers prepare for competitiveexaminations; and the magazine fulfills their needs."


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At No. 10, Ananda Vikatan, which has slipped two positions, has lost 2.78 lakh readers.In IRS 2010 Q1, it has registered a readership of 43.71 lakh, as against the totalreadership of 56.36 lakh readers in IRS 2008 R1.


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STORY 4:

IRS 2010 Q1: Most amongst Top 10 publications register growth

in AIR

Dainik Jagran continues to be the No.1 daily as per AIR (average issue readership) as it has beenas per total readership. In the current round, the Hindi daily has added 2.17 lakh readers, while inthe previous round, it had added only 24,000 readers. Its current AIR stands at 1.63 crore.

Dainik Bhaskar, at No. 2, has also added 4.49 lakh average issue readers in this round, while inthe last round it had added only 2,000 readers. The Hindi paper has an average issue readershipof 1.33 crore in this round.

Hindi daily Hindustan has retained its No. 3 position, registering an AIR of 99.14 lakh an additionof 5.78 lakh readers. During IRS R2, 2009, the daily saw an addition of only 33,000 average issuereaders.

At No. 4 is Malayala Manorama, with an AIR of 95.83 lakh. It has added another 4 lakh readers,continuing with its growth rate from the previous round, when it had added 3 lakh readers. In fact,as per the total readership, the newspaper doesn't even feature in the Top 10 list.

Sitting strong at No. 5 is Amar Ujala with an AIR of 84.91 lakh in IRS Q1, 2010. The Hindi dailymay have lost its ground in terms of total readership but has grown as per AIR by 1.92 lakh.During IRS R2, 2009, the daily maintained an AIR of 82.99 lakh an increase of 1.16 lakh readersfrom the previous round.

Lokmat has been moving regularly up the ladder and this time it has moved up two steps in termsof AIR. It is now at No. 6 from No. 8 (during IRS R2, 2009) with an average issue readership of73.61 lakh in the latest round. The daily has left The Times of India and Daily Thanthi behind inthe Top 10 race and has added 2.57 lakh readers this time.

Daily Thanthi and TOI have been pushed to No.7 and No. 8 positions this time (from their previousrankings of No. 6 and No. 7, respectively). The former has registered a negative growth of 1.64lakh average issue readership since the last round, whereas the latter has lost an AIR of 1.07 lakh.

Mathrubhumi is stable at No. 9. With a marginal increase of 20,000 readers in AIR, it is now at66.98 lakh as opposed to 66.78 lakh recorded during IRS R2, 2009.

Rajasthan Patrika has resurfaced in the list at No. 10, replacing Infomedia Yellow Pages. Patrika

has registered an AIR of 66.85 lakh, an increase of 1.99 lakh readers from the previous round.However, the daily had lost 1.82 lakh readers in the previous round, when it was also displacedfrom the Top 10 list.


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STORY 5:

IRS 2010 Q1: The Hindu, TOI, The New Indian Express and

Dinakaran gain in Tamil Nadu

As per Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2010 Q1, most dailies in Tamil Nadu have lost readers. Theonly ones to have gained are Tamil daily, Dinakaran, and three English dailies -- The Hindu, TheTimes of India (TOI) and The New Indian Express.

Daily Thanthi continues to be the No. 1 daily in the state, with a total readership of 2 crore. Thenewspaper has maintained status quo -- it has lost 9,000 readers, which is negligible -- in thisround. However, the Tamil daily had lost 1.64 lakh readers in the previous round (R2, 2009).

In Chennai, Daily Thanthi has recorded a total readership of 25.04 lakh as per Q1, 2010 -- a lossof 86,000 readers. However, the newspaper had also lost 53,000 readers in the previous round;this means that its total readership in Chennai has decreased by 5.5 per cent (1.39 lakh) in ayears time.

Tamil daily, Dinakaran is at No. 2 in the state. It has added 3.58 lakh readers in the current round,

taking its total readership to 1.66 crore. With this, it has also compensated for the loss of 2.68lakh readers in the previous round (R2, 2009). However, in Chennai, the Tamil daily has lost83,000 readers in the current round. In the state capital, Dinakaran claims a total readership of14.94 lakh.

Dinamalar is the No. 3 daily in the state, with a total readership of 94.26 lakh. The Tamil daily haslost 1.87 lakh readers in the current round of IRS. In fact, in the last two rounds put together, ithas lost more than 5 lakh readers. In Chennai, where the Tamil daily is behind The Hindu at No. 4,it has lost more than one lakh readers in the last one year, and now claims a total readership of7.2 lakh.


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Malai Malar is the other Tamil daily to have lost readers in the state. It has less than half thereadership of its closest competitor, Dinamalar, and has recorded a marginal loss of 20,000readers. The newspaper now claims a total readership of 28.85 lakh readers. In Chennai, wherethe newspaper is ranked No. 7, behind Deccan Chronicle and TOI, it claims a total readership ofonly 1.85 lakh.

The Hindu comes in at No. 5, with a total readership of 26.54 lakh. Despite competition, thenewspaper has added around 17,000 readers in Q1, 2010. However, in the previous round (R2,2009), the newspaper had lost around 1.29 lakh readers. In Chennai, where The Hindu is rankedNo. 3, it has lost around 9,000 readers, which is marginal. The newspaper has lost 78,000 readers

in the last two rounds.

At No. 6 in Tamil Nadu is Tamil daily, Dinamani, with a total readership of 21.45 lakh -- a loss of60,000 readers in Q1, 2010. The newspaper has lost 2.36 lakh readers in the last one year. InChennai, the daily's total readership stands at 1.27 lakh -- a loss of 31,000 readers.

Tamizh Murasu, at No. 7 in Tamil Nadu, has a total readership of 11.54 lakh. It has also lost51,000 readers.

The next three positions in Tamil Nadu are held by three English dailies -- Deccan Chronicle, TheNew Indian Express and TOI, respectively.

Deccan Chronicle, at No. 8, has a total readership of 9.38 lakh, and has lost 71,000 readers in the

state. In Chennai, which contributes to 50 per cent of its total readership, it is ranked No. 5. Here,it has lost 52,000 readers in the current round, taking its total readership to 4.75 lakh.

Next is The New Indian Express, with a total readership of 5.32 lakh. This English daily has alsomaintained status quo, as it has added only 6,000 readers in the current round. However, thenewspaper had lost 79,000 readers in the previous round. Unlike in the case of Deccan Chronicle,Chennai is a very insignificant market for The New Indian Express, as it has a readership of only51,000 in the city. The newspapers readership in the city has come down by 50 per cent in thelast one year.

The Times of India is placed as No. 10 in Tamil Nadu, within two years of entering the state. Thecountrys largest English daily has gained 18,000 readers in the state, taking its total readership to3.84 lakh. About 82 per cent of TOIs readers come from Chennai, where it holds the No. 6position overall and the No. 3 position amongst English dailies. Here, the newspaper has added

13,000 readers in the current round.


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STORY 6:

IRS 2010 Q1: Prajavani and Kannada Prabha grow in Karnataka

As per the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2010 Q1, eight out of the top 10 dailies in Karnatakahave lost readers. The only publications to have gained readers are Prajavani and KannadaPrabha.

The No.1 daily in the state, Vijay Karnataka has recorded a total readership of 78.94 lakh readersin Q1, 2010. The daily has lost 3.3 lakh readers in the current round, which brings its readershiploss in the last two rounds to 8 lakh. The daily, which also holds the No. 1 position in Bengaluru,claims a total readership of 12.43 lakh in the city, having lost 1.97 lakh readers in the last tworounds.

The No. 2 daily, Prajavani has added 3.26 lakh readers in the latest round, thus compensating forthe loss of 1.41 lakh readers in the previous round (R2, 2009). The daily's total readership standsat 57.73 lakh, as per Q1, 2010.

The daily enjoys the No. 2 position in Bengaluru too, and claims a total readership of 9.75 lakh. Ithas added 88,000 readers in the current round, though it had lost 1.35 lakh readers in theprevious round.

The No. 3 publication in Karnataka is Samyukta Karnataka, with a total readership of 23.54 lakh(Q1, 2010). In the last two rounds, the daily has lost around 3.17 lakh readers. In Bengaluru,Samyukta Karnataka doesn't even feature amongst the top 10 dailies.

Kannada Prabha is placed No. 4 in the state, with a total readership of 20.74 lakh as per Q1, 2010.It is the only other daily in the state, alongside Prajavani, to add readers in the current round. InQ1, 2010, it has added 35,000 readers, thus making up for half of the loss (71,000 readers) itexperienced in R2, 2009.

In Bengaluru, the daily is at No. 7, with a total readership of 2.28 lakh a loss of 29,000 readersin Q1, 2010.


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Udayavani is at No. 5 in Karnataka, with a total readership of 20.56 lakh. The newspaper hasalmost maintained status quo, having lost 6,000 readers, which is negligible. However, in theprevious round (R2, 2009), the newspaper had lost 1.6 lakh readers. In Bengaluru, this Kannadadaily has lost 22,000 readers. Like Kannada Prabha, this Kannada daily has a very small market inBengaluru, as the city contributes only 12 per cent of its total readership in the state.

The Times of India (TOI) is at No. 6 with a total readership of 9.25 lakh -- less than half that of itsclosest competitor, Udayavani. The English daily has lost 98,000 readers in the current round.However, in Bengaluru, it is placed at No. 3, with a total readership of 5.74 lakh; which impliesthat it gets more than half of its total readership in the state from the capital city. However, evenin this market, the country's largest English daily has lost 42,000 readers, the same as in theprevious round (R2, 2009).

Sanjevani is at No. 7 in the state, with a total readership of 7.74 lakh a loss of 45,000 readersfrom the previous round. The Kannada daily has a sizeable market in Bengaluru, which contributesclose to 50 per cent of its total readership in the state. In the current round, the newspaper hasadded 12,000 readers in the city.

Next is Deccan Herald, the second English daily to feature in the top 10. The newspaper has lost66,000 readers in the current round, taking its total readership to 7.6 lakh in the state. Thenewspaper has a higher readership than TOI's in Karnataka outside Bengaluru. In Bengaluru, itclaims a total readership of 3.51 lakh and is ranked at No. 5.

The Marathi daily, Tarun Bharat is at No. 9. It is the only other language daily to feature amongstthe top 10, apart from Kannada and English dailies. This Marathi daily has a total readership of3.52 lakh in the state; but in Bengaluru, it doesn't feature in the top 10 list.

In fact, in Bengaluru, the Tamil daily, Daily Thanthi features amongst the top 10, with a totalreadership of 1.75 lakh. The newspaper has added 15,000 readers in the current round.


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Amongst others, The Hindu claims a total readership of 3.4 lakh in the state, out of which 1.55lakh is from Bengaluru. The newspaper has maintained status quo in the state, having lost 7,000

readers; while in the city, it has lost 23,000 readers.

Deccan Chronicle, which is at No. 10 in Bengaluru, has added 18,000 readers, taking its totalreadership to 1.12 lakh.


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STORY 7:

IRS 2010 Q1: Dailies in Kerala lose readers after gaining in the

last round

Indian Readership Survey (IRS) 2010 Q1 suggests that nine out of the top 10 dailies in Keralahave lost readers. The only one to gain is Rashtra Deepika, which has added only 4,000 readers.This is in stark contrast to the situation in R2, 2009, when all the top dailies, except Madhyamam,had added readers.

Malayala Manorama continues to be the No. 1 daily in Kerala, with a total readership of 1.24 crorein Q1, 2010. The Malayalam daily has lost 2.41 lakh readers in the current round. However, in thelast round (R2, 2009), the daily's readership had increased by 3.44 lakh.

The publication, which is No. 1 in state capital, Thiruvananthapuram as well, has a total readershipof 4.3 lakh in the city, having lost about 26,000 readers in the current round. Interestingly, the

state capital only contributes 3.5 per cent of its total readership in the state.

At No. 2, and more than 33 lakh readers behind Malayala Manorama, is Mathrubhumi, with a total

readership of 90.94 lakh. The newspaper, which had gained 34,000 readers in the previous round,

has lost around 3 lakh readers in Q1, 2010.

In the state capital, the newspaper has lost around 25,000 readers, which brings down its totalreadership to 3.95 lakh -- 35,000 readers behind Malayala Manorama. The city contributes 4.5 percent of Mathrubhumi's total readership in the state.

The No. 3 daily in Kerala is Deshabhimani, whose readership is one-third that of the No. 2 daily,

Mathrubhumi. With a total readership of 33.06 lakh in Q1, 2010, Deshabhimani has lost 1.37 lakh

readers. However, in the last two rounds (R1 and R2, 2009), the daily had added as many as 4.29

lakh readers.


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The No. 3 daily of the state finds itself placed at No. 6 in the state capital, Thiruvananthapuram,with a total readership of 88,000. It has lost 17,000 readers in the current round in the state

capital.

Another Malayalam daily, Kerala Kaumudi is at No. 4 in the state, with a total readership of 13.04lakh a loss of 1.85 lakh readers in Q1, 2010. Since the daily had added 1.37 lakh readers in R2,2009, its net readership loss comes to 48,000.

In the state capital, the daily is at No. 5 with a total readership of 98,000 readers -- a loss of

around 15,000 readers. In fact, in Thiruvananthapuram, the group's tabloid -- Kerala Kaumudi

Flash -- now claims more readership than the main daily.

Madhyamam is at No. 5 in Kerala, with a total readership of 11.45 lakh. It has lost about 97,000

readers in the current round; thereby minimising its losses over the previous round, when it lost

2.57 lakh readers. Over the last two rounds, the daily has lost 3.54 lakh readers.

With a loss of 17,000 readers in the current round and a readership of 88,000 readers,Madhyamam is at No. 8 in Thiruvananthapuram. But since it had gained 12,000 readers in theprevious round (R2, 2009), Madhyamam's loss in the state capital, over the last two rounds, turnsout to be 5,000 readers.

Four lakh readers behind Madhyamam is Mangalam, with a total readership of 7.14 lakh. In thelast round, the daily had added 23,000 readers; but in Q1, 2010, it has lost 1.25 lakh readers --taking its total loss in readership to 1.02 lakh.

In the latest round, the No. 6 daily in the state does not figure among the top 10 dailies inThiruvananthapuram. In the last two rounds, Mangalam occupied No. 10 position in the statecapital, with a total readership of 29,000 readers (R2, 2009) and 31,000 readers (R1, 2009).

The English daily, The Hindu is at No. 7 in the state with a total readership of 6.12 lakh -- a loss of36,000 readers from the last round. In the state capital, The Hindu is at No. 3, with a totalreadership of 1.1 lakh readers. Over the last three rounds, it has lost 25,000 readers.

The No. 8 position in Kerala is occupied by Malayalam tabloid, Kerala Kaumudi Flash, with a total


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readership of 5.28 lakh readers (Q1, 2010). In the current round, it has lost 55,000 readers; whilein R2, 2009, it had added 68,000 readers.

With a marginal loss of 9,000 readers and a total readership of 1.03 lakh, Kerala Kaumudi Flash isthe fourth largest daily in the state capital.

At No. 9, Malayalam daily Rashtra Deepika is the only one to have gained readers in Q1, 2010.This time, the daily has added just 4,000 readers. It gained the maximum in the previous round(R2, 2009) by adding as many as 1.56 lakh readers.

With a total readership of 20,000 in the state capital in Q1, 2010, the daily has climbed two stepsup from its No. 11 position in the last round.

Sitting firmly at No. 10 is The New Indian Express, with a total readership of 4.14 lakh, losing25,000 readers in the current round. The newspaper had added 44,000 readers in the previous

round. The daily is also consistent in the capital city at No. 7, commanding a total readership of54,000.


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STORY 8:

What's the trouble with media measurement: Part I

Presented by Hindustan Times

When a certain report was released several months ago in Hong Kong and Singapore which

suggested as much as 65 per cent of marketing spend in the region was being wasted, and

achieved no return at all, the marketing fraternity including clients, their agency brethren and

media owners screamed blue murder.

How could this be when so much is invested in TV ratings reports, readership surveys, onlineanalytics, in every kind of consumer sentiment and brand equity research and in emerging newmeasurement technologies?

The answer, at least to why we know so little about the effectiveness of marketing spend, lies inclose analysis of the media measurement we either accept as the best possible method for aimingmarketing messages at desirable targets, or begrudgingly use for want of a better system.

Across all the media marketers use there are inadequacies in the measurement systems. Some liewith stubborn media owners who refuse to consider standardised methodologies for fear they willbe forced to financially wear the burden of improved research or worse, that standardisedmeasurement might lower their audience, or the quality of their audience.

Other deficiencies include the inability to separate quality of audience from mere numbers,disparate methodologies for gathering data which penalise some media and unfairly favour others,

and the simple fact that media measurement is failing to keep pace with changing mediaconsumption habits.

Even online measurement, touted as the great hope for accuracy in measurement, is problematic,not only for the dozen or so measures of online effectiveness but right down to the question ofwhat a marketer wants to measure in the online space.

And not only does measurement of each individual media have issues that inhibit strategicplanning, it is very difficult for a marketer to measure one media against another media andassess ROI of spend placed across multiple channels.

Asia isn't unique in its search for accurate measurement metrics and systems and the demise ofthe recently shelved ambitious Project Apollo in the US (see page 45) which sought to tie spend

more closely with results and consumer actions shows despite the best intentions fully transparentand accurate measurement is an elusive, if desirable, goal globally.

But the industry can't give up if media and agencies want to stand shoulder to shoulder withmarketers in boardrooms across Asia to help them explain and justify marketing budgets andparticularly that significant slice of it spent on media. This becomes even more important as themarch of technology alerts CEOs to better measurement possibilities - even if they aren't realised -and with the looming global slowdown where marketing budgets may be the first to get slashed byshort sighted bosses if every cent can't be accounted for.

Print Measurement: Print and be damned, audit and be saved

One of the bitterest measurement debates in Asia is over circulation auditing, with those who do

passionately berating those who see no value in it and who dismiss audit figures which, in manymore mature media markets, are considered gospel. Those who support auditing see it as an


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honesty in publishing issue and view those who simply provide unsubstantiated circulation figuresin their media kits with no audit certificate as misleading their advertisers.

Against the fierce criticism of publishers who believe auditing is the only true measure of a printpublication's reach and influence, those who refuse to audit often argue that they would be at adisadvantage if they audited because many of their competition don't. It's a weak retort, but thereare other concerns in Asia over auditing procedures.

Cyril Pereira, principal of Telesis Consulting and executive board member & treasurer of Society ofPublishers in Asia (SOPA), argues that local advertisers and agencies are also to blame, for notdemanding transparent data and as a result valuable advertising dollars are being spent on"unsubstantiated metrics".

"It's misrepresenting what quality media should really be about," Pereira says.

"We have for a century or more settled on a thriving formula for advertisements based directly onthe guaranteed circulation base, [but] large parts of the industry in Hong Kong and elsewhere arenot audited, although auditing services are available."

Hong Kong's Audit Bureau of Circulations (HKABC) says its data and collection methods arerigorous and highly transparent - with PricewaterhouseCoopers holding the contract to audit allmember titles and all data is made available online.

Pauline Yu, secretary of HKABC, says there are a number of moves to combat criticism and ensurethe organisation is keeping pace with industry changes.

While the organisation can not force publishers to audit, she says the body can work a bit harder

to get clients to demand audits.

Depending on who you talk to, the state of print measurement in the key markets of Asia is not ingood shape. Criticism of the methods used to sample the quality and size of the audience includingface-to-face interviews is strong, as is the criticism about the very rules governing the paidcirculation system.

In the past few years, auditing bodies around the world have been forced (in many casesreluctantly) to review their circulation and readership rules. These reviews have resulted insweeping changes to the way publishers collect and report circulation data.

The rapid emergence of content distribution tools like podcasts, RSS feeds, news blogs and socialnetworking sites, together with a growing list of online media brands, have only added to the woes

of publishers and auditing bodies.

Readership rewritten

It's no secret that traditional reading habits are changing. Media is no longer consumed in a siloand is often just one of many activities being undertaken at a particular time.

Business readers are getting busier and harder to reach, the younger generation are migratingonline and added to this is the harsh reality that older readers are simply dropping off the otherend. While publishers are largely supportive of the research and measurement tools available inAsian markets, the way they use the research is changing.

William Adamopoulos, president & publisher, Forbes Asia, says today the magazine's biggestclients are not buying on reader surveys.


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"These days in a post-internet era, it's not so much about paid circulation, it's about proving youhave an engaged readership. Quite frankly the agencies tend to buy on readership," he says.

While the Forbes Asia edition, launched two years ago, will be audited later this year,Adamopoulos stresses that readership is more important.

"Both surveys in the market are good solid surveys, but they need to be applied correctly. Ifpeople using PAX are more of your broad base more mass market it makes a lot sense but ifyou're talking about reaching C-suite executives then you better use BE:Asia or use your judgmentto look at the title," he advises.

Readership surveys around the region are today growing as a dominant tool for measuring not justthe paid circulation numbers, but the overall quality of targeted demographics.

BE:Asia, formerly ABRS, along with the PAX and Media Atlas studies are the dominant players inthis field. But the face-to-face and recall-based surveys these groups undertake have come underfire for being out of sync with the lifestyle changes of readers and bucking the natural trend ofdeclining numbers of readers.

Moving targets

If your most valuable target audience is working well beyond traditional hours in the office, or iscaught in a relentless travel cycle, they are unlikely to make themselves available, even if youcatch them at home, for an interview on their media habits and brand recall knowledge.

However, Craig Harvey, director of media research Asia Pacific at Synovate, says there will alwaysbe a place for recall-based surveys in media measurement and argues a complete overhaul of the

measurement system is unnecessary.

"The industry needs to understand how media works together, when multi-tasking of media ishappening, which media they are more engaged with. It's all about keeping up with the consumer.Today's measurement systems need to understand how, where, when and why media fits intotheir lifestyles."

Feli Tam, buying director, OMD Hong Kong, says today media planning and buying is a mix ofclient needs, research and in some cases personal opinion. She echoes publishers sentiments thatcirculation and readership are no longer the most important factor when developing a mediaschedule.

"We look at circulation, readership profile, readership image and the quality of the magazine.

Every success factor will be taken into consideration, it's not based on a single dimension," shesays.

"In Hong Kong not every publisher is being audited, so from our point of view it's difficult to onlyuse the circulation as the single dimension for measuring print titles. Some clients have their ownexperience in using the titles from response rankings and have their own preferences because ofthat image."


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STORY 9:

What's the trouble with media measurement: Part II

The declining viewership trends which are shaking media owners in Europe and the US have yet tomake any significant waves here in Asia and this means TV measurement is as contentious as it isimportant. It also gives measurement in other media many of its cues.

"By and large it is TV measurement which is the most advanced and most talked about. For thelongest time TV was the dominant medium for advertising and so the most investment formeasurement went to TV. It is only recently that people are exploring measurement in othermedia," Rahul Welde, VP Media (Asia, Africa, Middle East & Turkey), Unilever, says.

It's been ten years, and counting, since the serious discussions over of a pan-Asian or regional TV

measurement system were gaining momentum. Today, says Turner International Asia Pacific's VPof research, Duncan Morris, "we'd still be faced with the same question marks". For a regionalmeasurement system to work, the industry needs to come together but the pay TV channels aren'ton the same page - some want it, some don't, others sit on the fence.

Morris isn't a fence sitter though and admits that he is less interested in the development of a TVmeasurement system for the region, and is leaning more towards the development of a multi-media measurement system.

"It's less of an issue than it used to be. At the time it didn't go down too well because of theprohibitive costs involved and some question marks about the quality of the samples. Thosequestion marks are still there but what has changed, as a whole, is media consumption. It's notjust about TV anymore," he said.

However for some, like the Cable & Satellite Broadcasting Association of Asia (CASBAA), it is allabout TV. Representing over 125 Asia-based corporations, CASBAA is one industry-basedadvocacy group that can push hard for a regional measurement system for TV. For years now ithas been publishing the Power of Pay TV (POPTV) report which acts as a resource to illustrate therole that multi-channel pay TV plays in marketing.

Phillip Jones, regional director of SE Asia and Pacific for Taylor Nelson Sofres (TNS), says althoughCASBAA would be the "obvious" pick to drive a standard TV measurement system for the region, it"can't force" any of its members to do anything, like for example, put money into a pie to developthe mentioned system.

CASBAA has recently, thanks to some well publicised investigations into cable theft at pubs, gained

more credibility as a force for protecting the rights of its members, prompting some to suggest itshouldn't be underestimated as a positive force for driving measurement reform.

Apollo, we have a problem

If there is to be a standard TV measurement system for the region, then media owners will be theones to bear the brunt of the costs. For research, for example, media owners shell-out 80% of thecosts. A substantial investment will be needed to develop and manage such a system. CSM MediaResearch's business development director, Matt Brosenne likened the funding issues that doggedProject Apollo in the US with what the industry here may face.

When Project Apollo, a JV between VNU and Arbitron, was first announced, it was hailed as apotential breakthrough for ROI metrics but when it was revealed it could cost as much as US$100million (S$135.87 million) to get the service off the ground - the industry balked, deciding it wastoo expensive an investment to make. Apollo was, technically, able to determine how exposure to


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a wide variety of media and marketing tactics influenced purchases but it shut in February thisyear, having failed to obtain the necessary seed funding needed. As if any further indication of the

difficulty of getting a powerful consumer measurement tool off the ground was needed, the projectnot only saw The Nielsen Company and several major ad agencies championing and investing in it,but also major client marketers like Procter & Gamble, and yet it still failed to launch.

"As an industry do we have US$100 million to spare and then if I invest do we get US$150 million(S$203.81 million) back? The real critical issue moving forward is whether new technology willdecrease costs involved but it's not going to happen with the economic situation it looks like we'regoing to be faced with. In tough economic circumstances, one of the first to go is additional moneyon research," Brosenne said.

If this is the question the industry as a whole has about such a project, perhaps it ought to referback to the above mentioned report about wasted marketing spend and consider how much moneythe industry is already expending on a lack of proper measurement.

Who picks up the tab?

New technology is likely to decrease the costs involved in developing a pan-Asian TV measurementsystem but it's also unlikely to render popular existing currencies such as Synovate's Pan AsianCross Media (PAX) study or TNS's people meter ratings system, useless.

"It's very difficult for one system or methodology to answer all the questions, given the diversity ofviewing platforms and the nature of business in all of these markets. While I think there's no oneadequate solution some of these methodologies need to evolve over time," Anand Rego, director ofresearch for ESPN Star Sports, says.

The people meter ratings system may be one such methodology that will need to evolve.Discovery Networks Asia uses both PAX and the people meter ratings system, and its VP ofresearch, Wanda Gill, complains that while it gives real-time measurement - something which PAXcannot as a recall study - the people meter system is designed with terrestrial channels in mindand does not work to Discovery's "full advantage". But TNS's Jones is unapologetic about it, saying"if the cable broadcasters and cable providers are not prepared to put their hands in their pocketand pay for it, then they can't expect to be given services or have other people develop servicesfor them".

Jones explains that in most services the amount of dollars put in by the Free-To-Airs (FTAs)outweighs the cable group 6:1 and in some markets 10:1. He also calls on providers like theStarHubs to "get on board" for the development of a regional measurement system for TV butSingapore's dominant pay TV operator isn't keen on the idea.

"While we won't outrightly say 'No' to a standardised system that already has the support of theentire pay TV industry, the impetus for such a project should come from regional players first, notlocal ones," Germaine Ng-Ferguson, AGM advertising sales, corporate sales for StarHub, said.

However Gill says a "good scenario" would be an industry body comprising of broadcasters (bothterrestrial and pay TV channels), cable operators, advertisers, ad agencies and TV regulatorybodies to "make it a truly syndicated study that can balance the needs of interested parties".

Turner's Morris, says these considerations were "outdated". "The more pressing need is to look atthings from a multi-media point of view and, clearly, if you want multi-media measurement youhave to focus on the individual consumer rather than building separate measurements for eachmedia and trying to combine them somehow," he says.


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Blue-sky thinking

A regional TV measurement system is unlikely to happen in the next few years, or even in time tobe relevant, but according to Jones, "a major area of the industry going forward" will be TNS'sReturn Path data services. The system requires digital, which means the roll-out will be critically-dependent on whether a market has adopted digital, and collects information from the remotecontrol on how consumers use cable set top boxes in the home.

"There isn't people data and so it has limitations, and we admit that, but it certainly gives you a lotmore granularity in the data," he says.

CASBAA CEO Simon Twiston Davies thinks what the industry needs right now is some blue-skythinking on how to improve on existing platforms in each market and then implemented.

"One idea is to utilise the 'personal meter', either a watch or a mobile phone type apparatus, whicha selected sample of viewers will carry around for a few weeks, recording their exposure to anyelectronic media which has been tagged with a recognition code. This is easily done at thebroadcast end but so far none of the broadcasters here in Asia have picked up the challenge," hesays.

Media measurement is of course important to media agencies as well and Mediaedge:cia's regionaldirector for MEC MediaLab, Jon Wright, says, "Reliable media measurement is vitally important,even in the increasingly media fragmented markets, to be able to properly measure the potentialdelivery of channels and to form the basis of a trading currency.

"This responsibility I believe is on the media owners to establish this, albeit as part of an industrycommittee to include agencies and advertisers," he said.

However, Synovate's Harvey puts the responsibility on the advertisers to start demanding for thedevelopment, saying that "ultimately they pay the bills and have a vested interest in how theirmarketing budgets go down into the research they get". He cited Vietnam as an example whereadvertisers took a more active role in driving TV ratings research.

In the end the biggest obstacle for a region-wide TV measurement system could simply be thatAsia, with all its different markets, should not be clumped into one group which is what CASBAA'sDavies says is a "common error by critics of audience research".

"Nobody is to blame, countries are just different and any service in operation today is given oneprimary mandate - reflect the market where you are," Brosenne from CSM said.

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