GfK to Pilot Hybrid Radio Measurement in Aus

GfK and Commercial Radio Australia are to launch a 'world-first super pilot' to test radio audience measurement via a combination of diary and electronic meters.

The association's CEO Joan Warner says the study will be the world's largest ever radio audience measurement pilot using diary and electronic monitoring. She comments: 'Listening is evolving and Australians are consuming radio in many ways, in many locations, across many different devices. We want to make sure we use all the tools at our disposal to get a holistic picture of radio listening'.

The pilot will start in the first half of next year among consumers in Australia's five biggest cities, Sydney, Melbourne, Brisbane, Adelaide and Perth, who will record their radio listening in paper diaries and via a smartwatch and phone app picking up 'ambient' radio. GfK, CRA's longstanding measurement partner, announced a multimillion-dollar Measurement Innovation Program last year as its contract was extended

Speaking at the Radio Alive annual national radio conference, GfK ANZ Managing Director Dr Morten Boyer said the current radio survey system was 'still the most accurate way to measure radio audiences', but that the partners were keen to 'explore' the possibility of enhancing it with electronic metering and streaming data (quoted on www.mumbrella.com.au ). He stressed that the latter approach on its own was not ideal due to technology limitations and variable human compliance: a 'mini pilot' conducted in September found that participants did not always wear the watch or have their phone in close proximity, resulting in 'lost listening'.

'Australia is an ideal test market, said Boyer, 'because it's one of the strongest and most sophisticated radio markets in the world with high levels of technology use. There will be a lot of interest from other countries in the results of the study'.

Web sites: www.commercialradio.com.au and www.gfk.com .