Londonpaper to quit NRS

by John Reynolds, mediaweek.co.uk 18-Nov-08, 07:30

LONDON - News International-owned free newspaper thelondonpaper is poised to withdraw from the National Readership Survey.

NRS data released last week showed thelondonpaper trails its Associated rival London Lite in reader numbers, despite thelondonpaper distributing 100,000 more copies. Data for October 2007 to September 2008 gives London Lite a readership of 1,058,000 - a lead of 69,000 over thelondonpaper.

Ian Clark, managing director of thelondonpaper, has lobbied the NRS to change methodology and believes it needs to increase its sample size and include online surveys to reach young upmarket Londoners.

He said: "The NRS is misleading and increasingly irrelevant for the free papers when sample sizes remain ridiculously low. There were 312 respondents for thelondonpaper for the last six-month survey, during which time more than 30 million papers were distributed."

Clark is waiting for a new chief executive to be appointed at NRS before making a final decision on withdrawing. The paper is investing in London YouGov surveys, which have sample sizes three times that of NRS, but do not carry the same prestige.

Steve Auckland, managing director at London Lite, said it was "typical of News International", adding "if the sample does not fit, they just want to change the currency". NRS was unavailable for comment.