Newspapers to learn all about impact

The companies to draw the national audience survey for the printed media will be designated soon, as the final bids will be submitted at the beginning of May.

This project, which was initiated by the Romanian Bureau of Circulation Audit, (BRAT), a body “to become a basic reference tool for the media market,” will be enforced no later than January 2002.

The four companies still in the race (CSOP, GfK Romania, IMAS and Mercury) will present their bids tomorrow to the representatives assigned by BRAT and to the Swiss experts, Silviu Ispas, BRAT Executive Manager, told Ziarul Financiar. The final decision will be made at the beginning of June.

The bids were already sent to the Swiss consultants, whose assessment will be a decisive argument, based on the costs proposed by the competing agencies.

A number of eight agencies had initially submitted bids and the four rejected at the first selection process were Daedalus Consulting, Gallup, IRECSON and Metro Media Transilvania.

“This research will point to the annual audience averages for the respective publications. The surveys drawn so far have showed rather uncontrollable fluctuations of the weekly audience,” Silviu Ispat considers.

BRAT president and also media director with Initiative Media agency, Dan Balotescu, does not contest the actual tools used to assess the newspapers’ audience, but considers the new system has important advantages, as the reports are more accurate. IMAS and CSOP are the two research institutes that currently draw audience reports.

“The current systems have a scientific basis and can be accounted for, but the final result consists in two sets of data which are sometimes different. The gaps used to be quite large, when important publications were included in the report,” Dan Balotescu says.

The quality of a national audience research depends on the sample size. There is no general opinion on this issue, which will be settled in accordance with financial availability.

“The entire market is intent on a nation-wide sample including 20,000 respondents, even though costs are higher. As soon as the contract is signed, methodology and sample margins are settled, research is expected to begin in September or in January 2002, at the latest,” Silviu Ispas added.

Dan Balotescu feels that one drawback to the current situation is the need to finance two parallel surveys for measuring the media audience, which provide the sector with different data.

“The costs implied by the new system will be fair, according to the product’s value, especially since we are organising a tender. As soon as we manage to determine the product’s cost, everybody will know how much they have to pay,” Balotescu added.