Newspapers to get faster survey data

By SIMON HENDERY marketing writer

The country's newspaper publishers are beefing up their regular readership surveys in a bid to provide more compelling, up-to-date data for the advertising industry.

The Newspaper Advertising Bureau - the industry's sales and marketing arm - has spent several months reviewing its national readership survey.

It says the industry has now accepted in principle changes proposed by Nielsen Media Research, which does the survey.

The review - which canvassed advertisers, advertising agencies and publishers - highlighted the need for more frequent reporting of newspaper readership data and a faster turn-around time for the results of the surveys.

Newspapers' largest competitor for the advertising dollar, television, has the advantage of a rating system which delivers results overnight through ACNielsen's in-home People Meter service.

As a result of the newspaper review, from this year Nielsen surveyors will make more use of tablet PC-based interviewing.

Until now 79 per cent of readership surveys have used mainly pen-and-paper-based questionnaires for collecting data.

NAB director Sonya Crosby said the shift to tablet PCs would have a number of benefits, including allowing faster data processing, a shorter interview time, and a more interesting and professional interview experience for the respondent.

Overseas experience of the move to so-called computer-assisted personal interviewing had been very positive, said Crosby, a New Zealander who joined the NAB last year from McCann-Erickson Advertising in Brisbane, where she was communications director.

The NAB also intends increasing the survey's sample size so surveys of the country's major papers can be carried out six monthly rather than 12 monthly as at present.

While survey results are now produced every six months, they had been made up of "rolling year" data which included survey results from the previous half-year.

The first six-month-only survey will be released in August.

Nielsen also plans to create a "national readership access panel" of interviewees recruited from the readership survey.

The panel is expected to have more than 10,000 members by the end of the year and the NAB believes it will provide "huge opportunities for collecting new and more in-depth insights into newspaper readership and the effectiveness of newspaper advertising".

NAB research manager Sheila Berry said the organisation, which has 26 daily newspaper members, would work with Nielsen to see if it was feasible to one day release data into the market every three months.

"The agency feedback at the time of the review was that one of the key things for them was getting more frequent data."

Media statistics

Daily newspaper readership July 2002 - June 2003

* On a typical day, 1,664,000 New Zealanders aged 15 and over (55 per cent) will read a daily newspaper.

* Each week, 2,425,000 readers (81 per cent of the 15-plus age group) will read at least one daily newspaper.

Source: Newspaper Advertising Bureau

Advertising spend

Year to December 2002

* Newspapers: $628 million (40% share)

* Television: $516 million (33%)

* Radio: $203 million (13%)

* Magazines: $173 million (11%)

* Other: (including cinema and outdoor) $45 million (3%)

* Total: $1565 million

Source: Advertising Standards Authority