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NAB/SAARF fight will force more realistic readership measures for print

by Gill Moodie (@GrubstreetSA) What an illuminating morning I spent today at the joint South African Audience Research Foundation (Saarf)/National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) presentation on the way forward for TV research now that the NAB has given notice of its resignation from Saarf (effective 31 December 2014). Last month I wrote a piece about what lies behind the Saarf/NAB fight and after today’s frank question-and-answer time (the most interesting were the questions from media planners), I’m sticking with what I wrote earlier but can a bit more.

What struck me at their recent presentation in Cape Town is that:

1. The broadcasters are relishing their role of rocking the boat;

2. That they are genuinely pleased that TV market research is now going to be more comprehensive and more credible; and

3. That there’s a general smugness about that fact that it’s maybe time for print to get its comeuppance (though this was never stated).

Saarf/NAB fight explained: It’s about who owns the data

by Gill Moodie (@GrubstreetSA) Understanding how the South African Audience Research Foundation (Saarf) puts together its research is difficult enough so if you’ve been scratching your head lately over the battle between the National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) and Saarf, then you are not alone.

The NAB – which represents the radio and television media owners – resigned recently from the Saarf board (as of the start of next year), leaving many in media wondering what this means for the future.

While electronic media grows, print falls behind

The South African Advertising Research Foundation (SAARF) has released its latest data on the local media environment for January-December 2010. No news was construed as good news for print – on average, newspapers and magazine seemed to hold steady – while electronic media continued its growth path as more people are listening to radio, watching TV or surfing the Internet.