Commercial Radio Australia has awarded the radio ratings contract for 2004-2006 to
incumbent audience survey company Nielsen Media Research.
The three-year contract will commence on 1 January 2004.
Commercial Radio Australia’s CEO Joan Warner said the contract was awarded “following a rigorous evaluation and tender process.”
“Nielsen Media Research was chosen after very careful consideration as it offers a proven
radio audience measurement system for Australia that is among the world’s best,” said Warner.
“The industry also considered the likelihood of a move to electronic measurement in the next
few years. As a move to electronic measurement is possible in the future the industry decided
to maintain stability and certainty by awarding the contract to the incumbent.”
The Australian Radio Industry will continue with the diary system as it is “still the premier system
around the world, but looking ahead, the industry was keen to see a trial of electronic meters.”
“The decision to award the contract to NMR should not be seen as a decision in favour of the
radio control watch. Both devices on offer, the radio control watch and the PPM, currently
have a number of shortcomings and the further development of both devices will be closely
monitored by the industry,” said Warner.
The other tenderer was Arbitron-TNS, a combined bid by global research firm Arbitron and Taylor Nelson Sofres.
“We were very impressed by the professionalism of the Arbitron-TNS approach and hope
there will be the opportunity to work with them in the future,” said Warner.
Nielsen Media Research were delighted with the result of the tender.
Arbitron’s David Rogerson also spoke to radioinfo after tender was announced:
radioinfo: Were you disappointed not to win the tender?
Arbitron and Taylor Nelson Sofres is, of course, disappointed not to have been selected by Commercial Radio Australia (CRA).
The contract CRA awarded is for a diary-based service and it has been our position from the very beginning that the Australian radio industry deserves an audience measurement system that not only meets immediate needs, but is also flexible enough to cope with increasingly complex media environment. We believe that our electronic Portable People Meter (PPM) system addresses those requirements.
radioinfo:Does this mean we will not see Arbitron TNS in the Australian market for a long while?
The selection process has given us a clear understanding of the needs and requirements of Australian radio, and we feel there are further ways we can assist the radio industry.
Our global partnership with TNS means we’re here for the long term. You’ll continue to see us here. We’ve invested a lot of time and money in this part of the world in recent years.
Joan Warner, CRA ‘s CEO has been quoted as saying that CRA were very impressed by the professionalism of the Arbitron-TNS approach and hope there will be the opportunity to work with them in the future. We look forward to continuing that relationship as well.
radioinfo:Sounds like a long term plan.
Expect to see a continuation of our new and innovative ideas for media here. We will continue to stay up-to-date on the needs of the Australian radio community.
Our plans also include keeping the Australian broadcast industry updated on the PPM electronic measurement system as it is installed in a growing list countries around the world which includes France who have just signed on in the past 24 hours.
We will apply these findings to Australian radio whenever possible, to help programmers, managers and advertisers benefit from the knowledge we are amassing on what listeners tune to.