The National Readership Study and the Indian Readership Survey, the two primary readership surveys in the country, may make way for a common survey.
Executives of the National Readership Studies Council told Business Standard that Media Research Users Council, which commissioned the IRS, had submitted an application to become a part of the joint industry body that governs the NRSC.
The Advertising Agencies Association of India, Audit Bureau of Circulations, and Indian Newspaper Society make up the joint industry body. The application will be discussed at the next executive meeting of the NRSC.
The proposed merger will result in greater consensus among advertising agencies, top advertisers and print media companies while planning print media spends on the basis of readership figures. Print advertising, which accounts for an estimated 48 per cent of total advertising spends, is the largest component of the Rs 13,200 crore (Rs 132 billion) advertising business.
According to AdEx, a division of Tam Media, print advertising spends amounted to Rs 6,336 crore (Rs 63.36 billion) in 2005, with a growth rate of nearly 15 per cent.
Arvind Sharma, chairman of MRUC, confirmed that talks were on between the MRUC and NRSC to have a common readership survey. "There are strong voices on both sides in favour of a common survey," he said.
The strongest argument in favour of a common study is of preventing duplication of resource allocation. When merged, the combined entity will result in an increase in the overall sample size of the study, leading to better coverage.
"India is a complex country and far more sampling is required to get an accurate view of the market," said Sharma.
Industry sources said the need for a single survey had been heightened by the fact that both media companies and advertisers used data that served their ends.
For instance, if a newspaper got higher readership in one survey, it played up those numbers before advertisers to enjoy better rates, even as ad agencies used the other survey to bargain for larger discounts.
A common survey would enable advertisers, ad agencies and media companies to access a more comprehensive study at a lower cost, said an NRSC executive. The MRUC application also addressed the primary concern of the NRSC camp, said sources.
According to them, the strongest argument against the merger was that the NRSC was made up of industry bodies, while the MRUC was made up of individual companies.
"The MRUC has made an application to the NRSC in its capacity as an industry body," they said.
