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Tag: MRUC

  • MRUC puts the ball in RSCI court; INS sticks to its 24-hour ultimatum

    MRUC puts the ball in RSCI court; INS sticks to its 24-hour ultimatum

    MUMBAI/NEW DELHI: The last couple of days have been a nail-biting one for everyone having an interest in the Indian Readership Survey. From the time the IRS 2013 was made public, publishers of newspapers and magazines have gone through a lot of turmoil because of the data provided.

     

    As claimed by many, IRS 2013 has a lot of anomalies and hence, after a meeting on Monday, the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) gave an ultimatum to Media Research Users Council (MRUC) to withdraw IRS 2013 within 24 hours or else face its rejection by publishers.

     

    MRUC today held an emergency meeting to decide on how to respond to the ultimatum by INS. After the meeting, MRUC issued a statement saying it cannot unilaterally decide on the withdrawal the latest readership survey.

     

    The Readership Studies Council of India (RSCI), a joint body of MRUC and the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC), has called for a meeting on 19 February before any further decision is taken.

     

    “Unlike three years ago, MRUC no longer can take a decision on its own. RSCI will take a final call now,” says IRS Technical Committee Chairman Paritosh Joshi.

     

    The members of MRUC unanimously voiced their opinion on the findings. They said decided aspects of the study will be placed before the RSCI to help the broader community of stakeholders convince themselves about the study’s robustness and integrity. The IRS 2013 was contracted to Nielsen.

     

    Joshi feels that a new methodology was used for IRS 2013, which could have caused some confusion amongst the stakeholders and that they will need time to understand not only the findings but also the methodology which has gone into it.

     

    The MRUC statement said IRS 2013 cannot be compared with past readership surveys and that the findings are based on the latest census data. It also goes on to say that the study design includes a margin of error.

     

    INS continues to stick to its 24-hour ultimatum given on Monday, 3 January, according to INS newsprint committee chairman Mohit Jain.

     

    Jain told indiantelevision.com, “The report submitted by MRUC (today) has been considered in-depth and the members (of INS) have taken a decision to collectively to reject it.”

     

    INS members were still in a meeting on the issue at the time of filing the story.

     

    Click here to read MRUC’s statement

  • INS gives ultimatum; MRUC to meet tomorrow

    INS gives ultimatum; MRUC to meet tomorrow

    NEW DELHI/MUMBAI: The revamped Indian Readership Survey (IRS) was supposed to create a new paradigm, but has instead turned out to be a nightmare for Media Research Users Council (MRUC).

     

    The Indian Newspaper Society (INS) today issued an ultimatum to MRUC, a not-for-profit body of advertisers, advertising agencies, publishers and broadcasters, to withdraw IRS 2013 within 24 hours or face total rejection of the findings of the survey by the publishers.

     

    Indiantelevision.com had reported earlier that the INS representatives would be meeting officials from MRUC today to discuss issues raised by publishers. Today’s meeting was held in two rounds: the first meeting had print publishers discuss the future course of action while the second one delivered the ultimatum to MRUC.

     

    The INS is unwilling to climb down from its demand for complete withdrawal of the survey within 24 hours, the contract for which was given to Nielsen.

     

    The INS representatives attending the meeting were unanimous in their demand for complete withdrawal of the IRS 2013 survey as the first corrective step. The publishers raised several questions regarding the methodology and mechanism based on which the survey findings were arrived at.

     

    To decide on what should be MRUC’s next course of action, its officials will have a meeting with the Readership Studies Council of India (RSCI), a joint body of MRUC and Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC). INS Newspaper Society Chairman Mohit Jain confirmed the news and said: “We have also asked MRUC to conduct an extraordinary meeting tomorrow at 11.30 am and decide about today’s discussions.”

     

    “What happens next will be decided tomorrow by the RSCI,” says IRS Technical Committee Chairman Paritosh Joshi, who is personally saddened by the way things are taking shape.

     

    Sources say if MRUC fails to take action, INS may issue an advisory to its members asking them not to subscribe to IRS in the future and also not to use the mast heads of their newspapers in future surveys, and may consider supporting some newspapers going to court against the findings to get a stay order on the use of the latest IRS numbers by media planners and advertisers.

     

    A group of 18 publishers, which include The Times of India, Dainik Jagran, Bhaskar, India Today, Ananda Bazar Patrika, Lokmat, Outlook, Daily News and Analysis (DNA), Sakshi, The Hindu, Amar Ujala, The Tribune, Bartaman Patrika, Aaj Samaj, The Statesman, Mid Day, Nai Duniya and Dinakaran, have been vocal about their dismay with the numbers.

     

    The publishers felt that there was arbitrary decline in aggregate readership of certain publications. A majority of the publications are negatively affected by the 2013 survey which is based on a new methodology.

     

    Sources from the print industry shared the data, which shows how particular publications lost their Average Issue Readership (AIR) in a drastic way in some states.

  • IRS 2013 fate to be decided on Monday

    IRS 2013 fate to be decided on Monday

    MUMBAI: Early this week, when Indian Readership Survey (IRS), which was published after a year, the Indian print media waited with bated breath to see how has it done – good, bad or ugly?

     

    Since the survey conducted by Media Research Users Council (MRUC) and its new vendor Nielsen has been made public, things have turned ugly.

     

    A lot of publishers are not happy with the data and the new methodology used this time.  Many of them have openly voiced their dismay with it. For instance, the Hindu carried a piece from its editor-in-chief saying, “IRS, in relation to The Hindu, is riddled with inconsistencies and with findings that defy common sense and reach the level of absurdity that its credibility has been totally damaged.”

     

    Across the country, leading newspapers have said the new methodology used in the IRS has a lot of glitches and contradicts the figures of the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC), which shows the number of copies printed.

     

    The issue has taken a serious turn. A group of 18 leading newspaper groups, including the Times of India, Jagran, Bhaskar, Outlook, Lokmat and The Hindu, on Jan 30 issued a joint statement rubbishing the findings of the 2013 IRS survey.

     

    The group of publishers has called upon MRUC to immediately withdraw the latest IRS results and put a stop to all future editions of the survey based on the new methodology.

     

    The Indian Newspaper Society (INS) will meet with the MRUC on Monday (3 January) to discuss the issues in the IRS survey.

     

    The chairman of MRUC, Ravi Rao, was unavailable for comment.

     

    Paritosh Joshi, the Chairman of IRS’ Technical Committee, didn’t hide his disappointment and said if data is recalled or any other similar step is taken, it will be “shattering” for him. “All I want to say is that technology-wise we have used the best methodology. We also checked upon it routinely. What is surprising is that publishers were aware of the process used and it wasn’t a bolt from the blue. It was all out in the open and we delivered best to our capabilities.”

     

    The fate of the survey would be decided on Monday, till then we can only wait to see what happens next.

  • It’s exciting time for IRS: Ravi Rao

    It’s exciting time for IRS: Ravi Rao

    MUMBAI: Media Research Users Council (MRUC) at its Annual General Meeting has elected GroupM’s flagship agency, Mindshare Leader South Asia Ravi Rao as the new Chairman for 2013-14.

    On his new role, Rao said, “It is a great honour to drive the MRUC agenda collectively with some of the top professionals from the advertising, media and marketing fraternity. It is exciting times with the new avatar of IRS in the offering by end of this year.”

    ENIL (Radio Mirchi) CEO Prashant Pandey has taken over the new vice chairman’s role from Rao.

    Three new members from the publishers’ category have also been inducted into the 24-member Board of Governors. They are: HT Media executive director Benoy Roy Chowdhury; The Hindu CEO Arun Anant and Bombay Samachar director of Gujarati daily Hormusji N Cama.

  • IRS’ Q4 media reach findings

    IRS’ Q4 media reach findings

    MUMBAI: Is the rollout of DAS having an impact on cable & satellite TV’s reach? Prima facie it seems to be if one goes by the numbers thrown up the Indian Readership Survey for Q4 2012. Conducted by Media Research Users’ Council (MRUC) and Hansa Research, it showed that the C&S reach generated a growth of 8.9 per cent (Q2-Q4) as against 10.5 per cent for (Q1-Q3).

    Overall, television’s reach also slowed down from 6.1 per cent CAGR in Q1-Q3 to 5.2 per cent CAGR Q2-Q4.

    The fastest growing medium was the internet which grew at a slower 24.2 per cent CAGR in Q2-Q4 as against 27.5 per cent in Q1-Q3 of the IRS.

    Radio’s reach saw a CAGR of 1.9 per cent in Q2-Q4 as against a growth of 6.4 per cent. Newspaper readership grew by a more pleasing 0.8 per cent CAGR in Q2-Q4 as against 0.7 per cent in Q1-Q3 of the IRS.

    On a quarter on quarter basis, the reach of the following mediums grew as follows:

    • Cable & Satellite TV from 499.437 million (Q3) to 509.821 million (Q4)
    • Television overall from 571.426 million (Q3) to 578.011 million
    • Internet from 42.322 million (Q3) to 44.521 million (Q4)
    • Print from 353.338 million (Q3) to 353.409 million (Q4).

  • IRS Q4 2012: Press continues to lose

    MUMBAI: According to the Indian Readership Survey for Q4 2012 conducted by Media Research Users Council (MRUC) and Hansa Research, seven out of the top ten dailies (across languages) have lost readership. These include Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhaskar, Amar Ujala, The Times of India, Daily Thanthi, Lokmat and Matrubhumi.

    The pecking order of the top ten dailies remains unchanged with Hindi daily Dainik Jagran continuing its reign at the number one spot. The publication saw a reduction in its readership as compared to the third quarter from average issue readership (AIR) number falling from 164.74 million in Q3 to 163.70 million in Q4. Second spot holder Dainik Bhaskar saw a similar fate as its AIR decreased from 144.91 million in Q3 to 144.16 million in Q4.

    English dailies seem to be holding ground. In their case, just five of the Top 10 dailies lost readership. The Times of India, The Hindu, Deccan Chronicle, The Economic Times and The New Indian Express. While The Times of India continued to take the top spot, its readership fell from 7.653 million in Q3 to 7.615 million in Q4. The only change in the pecking order of English dailies happened with The Tribune taking ninth place (previously tenth; AIR 671000 for Q4) to replace The New Indian Express (previously ninth; AIR 652000 for Q4).

    For the language dailies, the pecking order remained unchanged with Malayalam Manorama retaining the top position and saw an increase in readership from 9.752 million in Q3 to 9.76 million in Q4. Six of the top ten language dailies lost readership with the biggest loser being Dinakaran that lost 96000 AIR (4.912 million in Q3; 4.816 million in Q4).

  • IRS Q3 2012: Malayalam magazine Vanitha continues to be most read magazine

    MUMBAI: Malayalam fortnightly magazine Vanitha continues to be the most read magazine in the country despite fall in numbers, according to the latest Indian Readership Survey (IRS) for the third quarter of 2012 conducted by the MRUC.

    Vanitha saw a decrease in its all India readership (AIR) to 2.271 million in the third quarter of 2012 from 2.353 million in the preceding quarter.

    Hindi monthly Pratiyogita Darpan continues to be the second most read magazine with a readership of 1.894 million, down from 1.918 million in Q2.

    Another Hindi monthly magazine Samanya Gyan Darshan was the third most read. Its readership actually increased to 1.733 million in the third quarter of 2012 from 1.644 million a quarter earlier.

    The fourth most read was India Today, which saw an increase in readership to 1.526 million in the third quarter from 1.554 million a quarter earlier.

    The pecking order of Hindi magazines remained unchanged with Patiyogita Darpan at the top followed by Samanya Darpan. Fortnightly publication Saras Salil was at number three, but saw a drop in AIR to 1.351 million in the third quarter from 1.548 million a quarter earlier. Seven out of the 10 Hindi magazines saw a drop in AIR for the third quarter of 2012.

    Amongst the English magazines, India Today retained its top position though its readership decreased from 1.554 million in the second quarter to 1.526 million in the third quarter. Second spot holder General Knowledge Today too saw a drop in readership to 1.047 million in Q3 from 1.087 million a quarter earlier. Seven out of the 10 English magazines saw a drop in AIR for the third quarter of 2012.

    In the Indian language magazines too Vanitha leads. Bengali weekly Karmakshetra takes the second spot with its readership increasing from 1.168 million in Q2 2012 to 1.183 million in Q3 2012. The readership of Malayala Manorama too rose from 1.113 million in Q2 2012 to 1.053 million. Occupying the fourth spot is Karmasangsthaan with .996 million readership in Q3 as compared to .964 million in Q2.

  • IRS Q3 2012: 3 of top 10 Hindi as well as English newspapers lose readership

    MUMBAI: Three of the top ten Hindi daily newspapers and an equal number out of the top ten English dailies saw a fall in readership in the third quarter of 2012. The Hindi newspapers which lost readership in the third quarter are Amar Ujala, Patrika and Nai Duniya), while the English dailies are The Telegraph, The Economic Times, and The New Indian Express.

    These are the findings of the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) Q3 2012, released by the Media Research Users Council (MRUC) and Hansa Research.

    Dainik Jagran continues to be the leader with all India readership (AIR) of 16.47 million in Q3 compared with 16.42 million in the preceding quarter. Dainik Bhaskar is in the second position with AIR of 14.5 million in the third quarter of calendar year 2012, up from 14.45 million in the preceding quarter.

    The newspaper with the third largest all India readership is Hindustan. Its AIR increased to 12.24 million in Q3 from 12.20 million in the preceding quarter.

    The pecking order of the publications has remained unchanged in the third quarter of 2012.

    Malayala Manorama was the fourth most read publication with AIR of 9.75 million in Q3, up from 9.71 million in the preceding quarter.

    Meanwhile, the AIR of Amar Ujala fell to 8.53 million in Q3 from 8.6 million in Q2 2012. The publication, however, remains the fifth most read.

    Amongst Hindi language publication, Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhaskar, Hindustan and Amar Ujala take the top four positions, respectively. They are followed by Rajasthan Patrika, AIR of which grew from 6.75 million in Q2 2012 to 6.8 million in Q3 2012.

    In case of the English dailies, the Times of India maintained its position at the top of the list with AIR of 7.65 million in Q3 as compared to 7.64 in Q2 2012. It is followed by Hindustan Times (AIR: 3.768 million) and the Hindu (AIR 2.258 million). The pecking order here too remains the same as last quarter‘s.

    The regional dailies saw some changes in the ranking order. Though Malayala Manorama continues to lead, Daily Thanthi with AIR of 7.41 million replaces Lokmat that witnessed AIR of 7.40 in the third quarter of 2012. Next in the ranking order is Mathrubhumi with AIR of 6.41 million. Seven out of the top ten Indian language dailies (Daily Thanthi, Lokmat, Mathrubhumi, Ananda Bazar Patrika, Gujarat Samachar, Dinakaran and Daily Sakal) lost readership.

  • Calcutta High Court rules in favour of MRUC

    MUMBAI: The Calcutta High Court has ruled in favour of the Media Research Users Council, dismissing the petition filed by ABP Pvt Ltd challenging the findings of the Indian Readership Survey in 2008 conducted by MRUC.

    According to a statement released by the MRUC “The Calcutta High Court has in a significant judgment delivered on 25 September 2012 held that the arbitration clause embedded in software of the Indian Readership Survey, which is part of the terms and conditions a user must accept before accessing data, is binding. Disposing of a petition filed by ABP Private Limited and vacating an injunction earlier granted by the Court, the Hon. Justice Nadira Patherya referred the dispute relating to IRS 2008 to arbitration.”

    Responding to ABP‘s petition challenging IRS findings, MRUC had contended that the dispute had to be referred to arbitration, as this clause was a part of the terms accepted by users. This was contested by ABP.

    The Hon. High Court held, “The issue sought to be raised by the plaintiff in C.S. No.242 of 2008 is covered by the arbitration agreement as the same has been couched in the widest term and encompasses the issue raised, and the same be referred to arbitration.”

    MRUC is a body constituted of media research users by media research users for media research users. “MRUC recognises that there will be situations in which users may disagree with some aspect of the conduct of various researches that it conducts. It is precisely to handle such disputes in a spirit of collaborative resolution that MRUC places so much emphasis on Arbitration,” the body informed in its statement.

    The clause in question is as follows:

    • All differences and disputes of whatsoever nature, arising between the parties including those that are in connection with, concerned with or relative to any aspect of the IRS Report inclusive of this Agreement between the parties and also any dispute or difference in regard to the interpretation of any provision or term or the meaning thereof, whether during the currency/sustenance of this Agreement or after the determination thereof, including any dispute, difference or controversy in regard to the interpretation / meaning / application of this clause, shall be referred to arbitration by sole arbitrator to be nominated by the MRUC Board of Governors and the said arbitration shall be governed by the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996. The place of arbitration shall be Mumbai only.
    • In all cases where “Court” has jurisdiction to entertain, try and dispose of matters governed by and/arising under or taken under any provision of the said Act, the party/ies (MRUC, Hansa Research and/or the user/s concerned) shall take such proceedings in an appropriate Court in Mumbai alone to the exclusion of all other Courts in the rest of India.
    • All disputes, differences and controversies between the parties, if any, not covered under Clauses XII.1 & XII.2 hereinabove shall be filed in and settled exclusively by the Courts in Mumbai alone.

  • IRS Q2 2012: Magazines too see slump in readership

    MUMBAI: Malayalam fortnightly magazine Vanitha continues to lead the list of most read magazines in the country, according to the latest Indian Readership Survey conducted by the MRUC.

    The publication, however, clocked a decrease in the All India Readership (AIR) at 2.353 million in the second quarter of the calendar year 2012 as compared to 2.444 million in the first quarter.

    The second place on the list continued to be occupied by Hindi monthly publication Pratiyogita Darpan with a readership of 1.918 million from 1.893 in Q1. Another Hindi monthly magazine Samanya Gyan Darshan figured on the number three spot, having also increased its AIR from 1.644 in Q1 to 1.664 in Q2.

    Jumping up two places on the list, Bengali weekly Karmakshetra (Q1 AIR: 1.142 million; Q2 AIR: 1.168 million) stood at number seven in Q2, sending previous quarter‘s number seven Cricket Samrat (Q1 AIR: 1.176 million; Q2 AIR: 1.135 million) and Malayalam weekly Malayala Manorama (Q1 AIR: 1.163 million; Q2 AIR: 1.113 million) to number nine.

    The pecking order of Hindi magazines remained unchanged with Patiyogita Darpan in top position followed by Samanya Darpan. Fortnightly publication Saras Salil was at number three, but saw a drop in AIR at 1.548 million in second quarter as compared to 1.601 million in Q1. Seven out of the 10 publications saw a drop in AIR for the second quarter of 2012.

    Amongst the English magazines, India Today retained its top spot though its readership decreased from 1.613 million in first quarter to 1.554 million in Q2. Second spot holder General Knowledge Today saw a spike in readers, albeit marginal, from 1.086 million to 1.087 million in second quarter. Stardust jumped up one spot to occupy the seventh place with AIR at 416000. The week suffered decline in readership (Q1 AIR: 418000; Q2 AIR 397000) and thus slipped down two places to number nine.

    The language magazines saw two major changes in the pecking order. Last quarter’s second spot holder Malayala Manorama swapped places with Bengali weekly Karmakshetra which held third position in the first quarter. Malayalam weekly Balaram (Q1 AIR: 787000; Q2 AIR: 738000) was bumped down to number eight by same language weekly Mathrubhumi Thozhil Vartha (Q1 AIR: 735000; Q2 AIR: 782000) which ranked at number seven in the second quarter.