AMAA Halves Frequency of Circulation Reports

Australia's embattled Audited Media Association has dropped quarterly publication of its circulation data for newspapers and weekly magazines, and will now report it six-monthly.

According to news site www.mumbrella.com.au , the AMAA says the changes follow a 'recent review' with publishers and media agencies regarding its 'rules and reporting deadlines' - which determined that quarterly reporting was no longer required. The current reporting period will now run from January 1st to June 30th, with the report released on August 18th.

The news follows the announcement last December that magazine publishers Bauer Media and NewsLifeMedia were withdrawing from the audits, leaving only one major consumer magazine group subscribed, and fewer than twenty titles counted. At the time, Mumbrella described the withdrawals as 'a potential deathblow' to the audited service. The departing groups cited changes in the way media is consumed, which meant they wished to focus on total cross-media audience rather than copy sales. The rival emma and Roy Morgan services are based primarily on surveys of readership, while the AMAA's audit uses actual sales and distribution data.

Of the latest decision, the body said: 'The review involved discussions with publishers and media agencies and determined that ABC quarterly data reporting was not required in light of the monthly frequency of audience data in the market'.

Formed in 2013 by the merger of the country's Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) and Circulations Audit Board (CAB), the AMAA is online at www.auditedmedia.org.au .