Rajar action on volatility a prospect after concerted industry pressure

by Daniel Farey-Jones, Brand Republic 15-Aug-05, 11:00

LONDON - Radio station owners, advertisers and agencies have been in talks with radio audience measurement body Rajar about taking steps to reduce the large swings in listening figures between quarterly surveys.

Rajar managing director Sally de la Bedoyere said that station owners, advertisers and agencies have all been talking to Rajar about ways of reducing the volatility, and the subject would be covered at a future board meeting. The next meeting is in September.

Chrysalis' London stations Heart and LBC have experienced some of the biggest swings and Chrysalis Radio chief executive Phil Riley has publicly said that the current diary system is showing more volatility than it used to.

The latest survey saw Heart's share of listening go from a market-leading 7% to a third-placed 5%. Emap's Magic FM has also yo-yoed. In the last two quarters of 2004, it went from 4.8% to 6% and is currently on 5.1%.

Measures suggested include increasing the number of survey respondents or reporting average audience figures over six months, rather than the current three months. The figures would still be updated quarterly.

The latter measure was supported by Initiative's head of radio Jonathan Barrowman, who described it as "a good move".

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