TWG Uses Trial Results To Challenge RAJAR
Kelvin MacKenzie’s Wireless Group has once again stated its lack of faith in the RAJAR diary system for determining radio audience figures, having completed the first UK trial of an electronic wristwatch system of audience measurement.
The group presented the findings of the trial yesterday at the Future of Radio conference in London. The results of the trial appeared to back up previous claims by MacKenzie about RAJAR’s diary system (see MacKenzie Attacks Rajar’s ‘Widely Discredited’ Research Methods), as they showed that people listened to more stations but for shorter periods of time compared to RAJAR’s figures.
MacKenzie was forthright as ever in his comments: “We have proved that the RAJAR system is flawed. We are now considering our next move.”
The system tested by the Wireless Group is called Radiocontrol. A device worn on the wrist, it digitally records what the wearer is listening to on a minute by minute basis. At the end of each week, the data collected by the wrist device’s memory is compared with broadcast data at an evaluation centre, determining which stations were listened to and for how long. It was tested in the Star FM survey area, taking in Slough, Windsor and Maidenhead.
Some of the key findings of the Radiocontrol data, when compared to RAJAR data were that:
- Reach for all but four of the 23 stations monitored increased
- LBC’s reach increased by 600%, News Direct by over 300%, BBC Radio 5 Live by almost 70% and talkSPORT by over 300%
- The largest market share went to Radio 4 rather than Capital FM, which claimed the largest share under the RAJAR system
- Market share for speech and national stations increased overall
In addition to comparing the two data sources, ten of the trial participants kept a RAJAR-style diary, which relies on recall. Comparing the data collected in this way with that of the wrist devices, it was found that in six out of ten cases the Radiocontrol data showed they had listened to more stations than recorded in the diary. However, it was also discovered that while the diaries said they had listened for 53 hours and 30 minutes, while the Radiocontrol data said it was 34 hours 26 minutes- some 35% less.
RAJAR’s managing director Jane O’Hara said yesterday that it was hard to comment without knowing the methodology used by the trial. She pointed out that RAJAR itself began the testing of several different electronic audience measurement systems in January this year. It is hoped that testing will conclude early next year, when a decision will be made about whether an electronic system will be adopted.
Factors being considered in RAJAR’s system trials include whether different platforms such as analogue, DAB and internet radio can be detected, whether devices can be worn by all demographics and other clothing, what their acoustic capacities are and, perhaps most importantly for the stations who would carry the cost, how expensive it would be to implement an electronic system, either across the board, or just for national stations.
RAJAR: 020 7903 5350 www.rajar.co.uk Wireless Group: 020 7269 7180
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