Readership survey peeves INS

At a meeting of the National Studies Research Council (NRSC), which conducts the National Readership Survey (NRS), in Mumbai today, the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) threatened to walk out of the readership survey body if the anomalies in NRS 2006 were not resolved.

The NRSC comprises members from the Indian Newspaper Society (INS), the Advertising Agencies Association of India (AAAI), and the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC). There are eight INS members in the council.

The council has also formed a sub-committee to look into the grievances of newspaper and magazine owners, who have been complaining bitterly about the research findings for 2006.

A newspaper industry representative said that if the committee did not come up with satisfactory answers to the problems in the 2006 research by February 2007, the INS would no longer be a part of NRSC. "Of course, that would be the last resort. But the fact is that many INS members have been upset with the way the research has been done," he said.

A top executive of a print media company, however, said he did not see the nearly 1,000 INS members walking out of the survey en masse. "But we have put pressure on the body to revamp its methodology and improve the survey drastically," he added.

Meanwhile, INS sources said the council was seeking fresh bids from market research agencies for conducting NRS 2007. The research for NRS 2006 was done by AC Nielsen.

The anamolies that most irked print media brands included the readership swing between metros and non-metros, a dramatic drop in population, and inconsistencies in readership trends vis-a-vis circulation for publications.