GfK takes over commercial radio survey

RBA chief executive Bill Francis. File photo / Paul Estcourt

The Radio Broadcasters Association has announced research company GfK will be the new provider for the commercial radio survey from 2016.

RBA chief executive Bill Francis said a review showed an overwhelming demand for more continuous research, regular reporting and changes to the methodology.

Rampant fragmentation of audiences and the convergence of the radio, television print and online sectors is forcing media companies and advertisers to rethink audience research. The two trends are forcing them and audience research companies to find ways to track the movement across platforms.

New Zealand commercial media are working on changes that provide better information for advertisers.

That includes the shift from traditional media, which still provides the lion's share of revenue, to digital and the hard to follow movement between different devices.

NZME group director digital media Laura Maxwell-Hansen said advertisers wanted to communicate with audiences as they moved throughout media channels and as yet there was no market-standard audience measurement tool.

"Ideally in the future we will be able to identify a person and their media consumption across all media - allowing for better targeting of advertising placement, personalised messaging, personalised content and better message uptake," Maxwell-Hansen said.

Arguably the most complex change is in free-to-air television and the rapid growth of streaming video services such as Lightbox.

Executives from Television New Zealand, MediaWorks and Sky TV attended a conference in Singapore on the global changes to audience research. TVNZ general manager of data and insights Jonathan Symons said a change in audience research was a work in progress.

The contract for Nielsen Total Audience Measurement that provides people meter ratings on the TV audience ends in 2018 and talks are already advanced. A request for proposals will aim to provide advertisers with more detailed research.