Metropolitan radio ratings are being updated with the introduction of Radio360, a system that will rely mostly on e-diaries and integrate livestreaming data.
Commercial Radio Australia (CRA) says the new multimillion dollar hybrid measurement system comes in response to the rapid digitisation of audio consumption in Australia.
Radio360 will begin to adopt the use of e-diaries for most of its surveys. It will also integrate livestreaming data to provide more information on the size and profile of audiences listening across digital platforms.
A panel of 2,000 consumers will also be asked to wear an electronic watch meter that will detect when the wearer is in listening range of a radio broadcast and will provide encrypted anonymised information, to be used to validate and ensure the streaming data is accurate and deduplicated.
CRA will partner with global research firm GfK to roll out the new system in measured stages, commencing in late 2021 and accelerating through 2022.
“After consultation with key industry stakeholders, in recognition of the changing behaviour of our growing digital audiences and the need to accurately capture and report on this increasing consumption, the industry has moved forward with GfK in developing a hybrid measurement system,” says CRA chair and Southern Cross Austereo CEO Grant Blackley.
“Australians are increasingly consuming radio through digital platforms. More than 2.7 million people are listening to radio each week through their smartphones. The industry’s investment in a hybrid measurement system will allow advertisers to connect to known, targeted audiences at scale.”
The system will begin integrating streaming audiences in early 2022 using wearable device technology. Panels of 400 consumers in each of the five metro markets will be asked to wear watch meters to calibrate, validate and ensure de-duplicated streaming data. Streaming data will then be integrated with broadcast audience data, accredited via Gold Standard radio analysis software, and made available as part of regular ratings reports.
The move is part of an ongoing review and modernisation of radio ratings being undertaken by CRA in partnership with GfK.
“GfK is excited to partner with CRA to make hybrid radio audience measurement a reality following a rigorous and thorough testing and development period,” says GfK managing director for Australia and New Zealand Dr Morten Boyer.
“Australia is one of the strongest radio markets in the world and the first to embrace this exciting approach, both from a methodological and data science perspective.”
As part of the process, the transition away from paper diaries to e-diaries will continue this year.
The proportion of survey respondents using an e-diary will be steadily increased from Survey 6, 2021, making the system more resilient to disruptions such as COVID, while maintaining the annual sample size at 60,000.
“The overhaul of the radio ratings will future-proof the system and better capture listening everywhere, on every device,” says CRA CEO Joan Warner.
“Digitisation and innovation adopted across the radio sector have removed any limitations to listening – radio is now genuinely ubiquitous, and we need a measurement system capable of capturing that.
“By putting the right technology and methodology in place, we are ensuring that we are able to do justice to the full scale and opportunity of our audience in the eyes of advertisers, now and into the future.”
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