South African Media Win for Nielsen

Nielsen Media Research has been awarded a five-year contract to conduct the South African Advertising Research Foundation's (SAARF) All Media and Products Survey (AMPS) and the Radio Audience Measurement Survey (RAMS). The contract commences on 1st January 2009.

AMPS provides information on South Africa's adults (aged 16+) and includes data about which media they consume, from print to radio to cinema, and which products and brands they purchase and use. RAMS measures radio listening habits of respondents aged 16+ who live in the nine provinces of South Africa. The study covers both commercial and community radio stations.

The tender process commenced about 12 months ago, and SAARF CEO Dr Paul Haupt says the Board and Tender Committee had to decide on the best option to provide currencies for the print as well as the radio industries: 'Bearing in mind the cost of these surveys and the funding limitations within which SAARF had to operate, financial viability and sustainability were the most important factors that had to be taken into consideration'.

Enhancements to be implemented include a change in the AMPS methodology from computer-assisted personal interviewing (CAPI) to double screen CAPI, which is intended to enhance the quality of the survey and enable measurement of newspaper and magazine readership.

In addition, the age of inclusion limit will be lowered from 16 to 15 years and older. The AMPS sample will also be increased to 25,000 each year, which Haupt says will enable two full national AMPS waves to be conducted per year.

In 2005, SAARF awarded Nielsen Media Research its television audience measurement (TAM) contract. The agency has been providing peoplemeter TAM data since 1989.

SAARF is a non-profit making organisation that was founded in 1974 to provide media audience and product consumption measures. The body recently hired former Nielsen Executives Michelle Boehme, Lucas Raganya and Claire Milne.

Web sites: www.nielsenmedia.com and www.saarf.co.za .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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