Australian metropolitan radio ratings will undergo major change next year with live streaming data to be integrated into a new hybrid measurement system.
Labelled Radio360, the new radio ratings survey method will see ratings provider GfK continue to be the supplier of information that makes or breaks the carers of radio hosts around the country.
Radio360 will see the methodology transition from paper surveys to e-diaries and the integration of streaming data to provide more information on the size and profile of radio audiences.
Paper diaries have been used to measure radio audiences in Australia since 1973 and were collected by Nielsen until it lost the contract to GfK in a major shakeup with an initial three-year contract at the start of 2014.
A decade earlier in 2002 the Australian radio industry nearly became the first in the world to move to smart watch audience measurement when the CRA board narrowly voted to continue with the paper diaries.
Back then there was a concerted pitch from US ratings supplier Arbitron who was selling the idea of a Portable People Meter (PPM was a pager-like device) and Nielsen who were promoting the Watch Meter. At the time industry veteran David Rogerson was Arbitron’s representative in Australia.
Former Southern Cross Radio boss Graham Mott, who was at the time chair of the CRA research committee in 2002, oversaw the decision not to go electronic, noting it was too soon for electronic measurement and there was no need for Australia to be the global guinea pig.
The new Radio360 panel will feature 2,000 consumers who will also be asked to wear an electronic watch meter that will detect when the wearer is in listening range of a radio broadcast and will provide encrypted anonymised information, to be used to validate and ensure the streaming data is accurate and deduplicated.
Commercial Radio Australia will partner with GfK to roll out the new system in measured stages, commencing in late 2021 and accelerating through 2022.
CRA chair and Southern Cross Austereo CEO Grant Blackley said: “After consultation with key industry stakeholders, in recognition of the changing behaviour of our growing digital audiences and the need to accurately capture and report on this increasing consumption, the industry has moved forward with GfK in developing a hybrid measurement system.
“Australians are increasingly consuming radio through digital platforms. More than 2.7 million people are listening to radio each week through their smartphones. The industry’s investment in a hybrid measurement system will allow advertisers to connect to known, targeted audiences at scale.”
CRA said the integration of streaming audiences will commence early in 2022, enabled via next-generation wearable device technology. Panels of 400 consumers in each of the five metro markets will be asked to wear watch meters to calibrate, validate and ensure de-duplicated streaming data. Streaming data will then be integrated with broadcast audience data, accredited via Gold Standard radio analysis software, and made available as part of regular ratings reports.
GfK’s Dr Morten Boyer
GfK managing director, Australia and New Zealand Dr Morten Boyer said: “GfK is excited to partner with CRA to make hybrid radio audience measurement a reality following a rigorous and thorough testing and development period. Australia is one of the strongest radio markets in the world and the first to embrace this exciting approach, both from a methodological and data science perspective.”
As part of the process, the transition away from paper diaries to a stronger focus on e-diaries will continue this year. The proportion of survey respondents using an e-diary will be steadily increased from Survey 6, 2021, making the system more able to withstand disruptions such as Covid, while maintaining the annual sample size at 60,000.
CRA chief executive officer Joan Warner described the changes as a necessary and natural response to an evolution in listening habits. “The overhaul of the radio ratings will future-proof the system and better capture listening everywhere, on every device. Digitisation and innovation adopted across the radio sector have removed any limitations to listening – radio is now genuinely ubiquitous, and we need a measurement system capable of capturing that.
“By putting the right technology and methodology in place, we are ensuring that we are able to do justice to the full scale and opportunity of our audience in the eyes of advertisers, now and into the future.”
Peter Horgan, Omnicom Group CEO and chair of the Media Federation Australia, said: “We welcome CRA’s move to evolve radio audience measurement to better reflect listening behaviour. As radio consumption becomes increasingly sophisticated, it makes sense that measurement follows suit. This will allow agencies to make more informed media planning and buying decisions on behalf of their clients, ultimately improving radio campaign effectiveness.”
MFA chief executive officer Sophie Madden added: “The MFA fully supports this exciting direction for radio audience measurement and the goal to develop new best-practice solutions.”
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