Radio research furloughed

My earlier post, about the US speech network NPR saying broadcast listening, particularly at morning and drive-time peaks, is way down during the pandemic, crossed with a press release today from RAJAR.  We're not going to find out what's happened to broadcast radio audiences in the UK for quite a while - until the industry body responsible, RAJAR , finds a new methodology it can agree on.

Until it does "published RAJAR numbers will be based on historical data incorporating revised census population information."   Which may well bear no relationship to what is actually happening to radio listening.

RAJAR figures rely, at least in part, on the work of market researchers conducting face-to-face, door-to-door interviews; the results are later combined with diaries completed by a panel of listeners. They seem very reluctant to move using that latest invention, the phone. Or even more daringly, Skype or Zoom. Are they under pressure to get more detail on the all-important podcast figures - especially if the broadcast figures are tanking ? 

Tuesday 0930 update: A number of radio sages have been in touch, explaining why ringing up people doesn't work for RAJAR, and the problems of tracking down the right balance of people to reflect the audiences of small stations. Try this blogpost by Adam Bowie.  And Matt Deegan points out that RAJAR's system requires 100,000 people a year to share detailed information of their radio listening habits. He blogs here.

And so, until this is sorted, we won't know how Times Radio is doing, or how many are still bothering with The Archers.