MRUC kick-starts IRS preps
MRUC said in its annual report for FY 2021-22 that the Board is discussing various futuristic options to restart the survey as quickly as possible
The Media Research Users Council India (MRUCI) is expected to restart the Indian Readership Survey (IRS) as quickly as possible, and is likely to make an announcement on the launch of the survey soon.
"At this moment, the Board is discussing various futuristic options to restart the IRS as quickly as possible. You will soon hear the announcement on the re-launch of the IRS study," the MRUC said in its annual report for fiscal 2021-22.
IPG Mediabrands India CEO Shashi Sinha, who is also the Chairman of MRUC, said there was no definite timeline for restarting the IRS. He, however, added that the council is attempting to restart the IRS as early as possible. He also said that the council will float a request for proposal (RFP) to appoint an agency for conducting the IRS.
The MRUC has been scouting for a new research agency partner ever since the contract with Nielsen ended in 2019. In July 2020, the council suspended the production and publication of IRS 2020 readership survey due to the pandemic, which made it impossible to carry out the fieldwork needed for the research. The council had also issued refunds to its subscribers for the payments made for the survey.
A source close to the development stated that the MRUC is brainstorming on the modalities of conducting the IRS. "The MRUC Board is still holding discussions on the way forward for the IRS. As of now, nothing has been finalised as it's all in the discussion stage," the source added.
The MRUC's members comprise advertisers, publishers, advertising agencies, broadcast and other media. Recently, the MRUC board unanimously re-elected Shashi Sinha as the Chairman and Jagran Prakashan Director Shailesh Gupta as the Vice-Chairman. Further, Maruti Suzuki India Senior Executive Director (Marketing & Sales) Shashank Srivastava and TV Today Network Group Chief Marketing Officer & COO Consumer Revenue Vivek Malhotra were appointed to the Board of Governors.
The council had last issued an IRS study in May 2020 for the period Q4 2019. One of the key findings of IRS Q4 2019 was that the newspaper readership is on a slow decline across Hindi, English and regional languages even as the TV viewership, radio listenership, and internet penetration continue to grow.
The IRS along with the Audit Bureau of Circulation (ABC) data serve as the currency for buying advertising space in newspapers. The IRS provides the readership figures for the print media while the ABC supplies the circulation figures. Recently, ABC started the process of auditing the circulation figures of its publisher members starting with January to June 2022 period.
According to media planners, both IRS and ABC data have their own utility for agencies and brands. A senior media buying executive said that the ABC data became important in the absence of the IRS.
Another media buying executive noted that the IRS is a lot more relevant in media buying. However, ABC is also a good metric since it provides circulation figures.
A senior media planner observed that the ABC and IRS are both important in media buying. He also said that the ABC data helps in getting the actual circulation figures due to its strict audit process.
