India's MRUC Accused of Under-Counting Listeners

In India, the CEO of broadcaster Reliance Media World (RMW) has accused the Media Research User Council (MRUC) of providing an 'erroneous radio measurement system', which under-reports the number of radio listeners, especially in smaller towns.

RMW, which operates 45 stations across the country, claims that MRUC's Indian Readership Survey (IRS) under-counts the number of listeners to its station by up to 30%. This, the firm says, is causing loss of advertising revenue.

MRUC's IRS data is used by agencies, advertisers and the media for measurement of print and magazine readership to form benchmarks for ad rates for publications. It is also used to count radio audience numbers.

While Radio Audience Measurement (RAM) provided by TV measurement agency TAM, currently only covers the metro areas, smaller towns are reliant on the IRS data.

In a local report, RMW CEO Tarun Katial described the IRS as a 'grossly erroneous measurement system, designed primarily for print readership'.

'There is an urgent requirement for a more robust measurement system, and while RAM is slated to expand to other metros, the growing non-metro markets need immediate redressal,' stated Katial. 'Radio broadcasters are exploring alternate routes like the rolling diary formats, which work well internationally, offering greater accuracy of listener measurement through monthly or quarterly results.'