Commercial Radio Australia and the Media Federation of Australia (MFA) have agreed to join forces in the investigation of the future of radio audience measurement in Australia.
Agreement was reached at a meeting between Michael Anderson, chair of Commercial Radio Australia and CEO of Austereo, and Gary Hardwick, president of the MFA and managing partner of Ikon.
While informal discussions have occurred for some time, the new arrangements mean that the MFA will be formally represented on the Commercial Radio Australia Research Committee and have input into decisions affecting the radio audience measurement surveys.
“The commercial radio industry is looking to the future, with the next survey contract to commence in January 2009, so this arrangement is very timely,” said Anderson. “The MFA is an important stakeholder in the radio advertising area and we are pleased that we were able to formalise a collaborative way forward with the MFA.”
Hardwick announced that John Grono, MFA Research Consultant, will be the MFA representative on the Research Committee.
“This is an excellent opportunity for us to work with the radio industry in seeking continuous improvement to the current methodology and in assisting the industry to critically analyse current and developing electronic devices,” said Hardwick.
Commercial Radio Australia is evaluating tender submissions from Nielsen Media Research, Ipsos and Roy Morgan Research. It is anticipated that a decision on the outcome of the tender will be announced early in 2008. The next radio audience measurement contract is due to commence on January 1, 2009, the same date as DAB is scheduled to be available in the nation’s capital cities.
