[cma-l] Australia: 2008 listener survey reveals increase in community radio listening

[Salvatore Scifo]

Dear Anton and you all,
you can find the method of this survery described on pages 6-7 of the 
full report of the survey to be downloaded from
http://www.cbonline.org.au/index.cfm?pageId=44,179,3,1600
or directly from
http://www.cbonline.org.au/media/McNairListners2008/FullNationalListenerSurvey2008.pdf

I have attached the text of those pages at the bottom of this message.

List members might be also interested in reading, among other resources, 
the audience study
Community Media Matters, published in 2007 and available from
http://www.cbonline.org.au/index.cfm?pageId=51,0,1,0

All the best,

Salvo




From: 10Radio <info at 10radio.org>
> Yes, it would be good if the CMA could find out how the survey was
> conducted and then do someting similar for UK.
>
> We at www.10radio.org would be very willing to to participate.
>
> Best regards
>
> Anton Matthews
> Development Manager
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
2008 Australia Community Radio Survey

Method
This research was conducted by means of a telephone survey of a 
representative sample of 5,003
people aged 15 and over throughout Australia. The research method was 
purposely the same as in the
previous surveys in 2004 and 2006.

The survey was conducted by trained interviewers from McNair Ingenuity 
Research’s supervised call
centre in Crows Nest, Sydney. The interviewing team comprised trained 
interviewers accredited under
the new Australian standard AS4752, which incorporates the Interviewer 
Quality Control Australia
scheme that preceded it. Interviewing was supervised at all times and 
quality control checks included
monitoring of 10% of the interviews.

The interviewing was conducted by means of a Computer Assisted Telephone 
Interviewing (CATI)
system, SurveyCraft. A sample of telephone numbers was drawn randomly 
from Sampleworx, a
guaranteed and verified random digit dialling phone number database for 
all areas of Australia. The
random sample was then programmed into the CATI system, and a rigorous 
call-back procedure
implemented to help ensure that all households were contacted including 
those where people are not
often at home.

Interviewing was conducted among people aged 15 and over, and quotas 
were used to ensure an equal
number of men and women in each area, and a representative spread of age 
groups.
The CATI system ensured that interviewers followed a meticulous script, 
ensuring that each interview
was conducted in the same way. It also had scripts with regard to any 
respondent queries about
confidentiality and privacy. A freecall number 1800 669 133 was offered 
to respondents who wished to
check the veracity of the interview. Calls on this number were taken by 
a senior supervisor or executive.
As members of the Australian Market & Social Research Society, McNair 
Ingenuity Research also
offered the AMSRS Survey Line number, 1800 364 830 as an external 
verification source as to the
company’s credibility. The McNair Ingenuity Research web site was also 
offered for information about
the company’s privacy policy.

The interviewing program was conducted between May 7 and June 24 2008 
inclusive, mainly on
weekday evenings and weekends. A total of 5,003 interviews were 
conducted as follows:
Sydney 550
Western NSW 91
ACT 300
Southern NSW 99
Melbourne 550
Eastern Victoria 159
Brisbane 400
Western Victoria 242
Adelaide 400
Southern Queensland 252
Perth 400
Northern Queensland 149
Tasmania 300
Regional South Australia 301
Northern Territory 300
Regional Western Australia 300
Northern NSW 210
Total 5,003

The results were “weighted” (to potential ‘000s) by age groups within 
gender within each of the above
areas to reflect the known populations in each area, based on the most 
recent population information
provided by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

The questionnaire was identical for all the above areas, except for the 
list of community radio stations,
which differed for each area. By way of example, the Sydney 
questionnaire (which listed all Sydney
community radio stations) is shown at the end of this report. Every 
community radio station in Australia
(excluding RIBS stations) was listed in one or more questionnaires.

Most of the questions were purposely the same as those asked in the 2004 
and 2006 survey, so that
comparisons of results could be made.


Comparison with ACNielsen Surveys (previously McNair Anderson)
Traditionally, radio audiences have been measured in Australia by the 
use of a diary that has provision
for a respondent to tick quarter-hour by quarter-hour and day-by-day the 
radio stations that he/she
listens to over a seven-day period. It is not possible for the diary to 
list all of the radio stations that are in
each market. Therefore the diary lists only the commercial and ABC 
stations that are in the market. By
and large, these stations are the ones that subscribe to the results.

If a respondent listens to a non-listed station, he/she has to tick the 
quarter-hour(s) under either of two
headings – “other AM” or “other FM”. It can fairly be said that because 
community radio stations are not
listed in the diary, any listening to them is under-reported in the 
ACNielsen surveys.

The present survey has been structured so that the call-signs and 
positions on the dial of all community
radio stations in a market are read out to respondents. It has not been 
possible for the individual
commercial and ABC/SBS stations to be read out. Because of this, it can 
fairly be said that any listening
to these stations is under-reported in the present survey.

Also it needs to be noted that because the present survey was conducted 
by telephone, asking people to
recall their radio listening over the past seven days and past month, 
there was undoubtedly some
“memory fade” for some respondents. To this extent, the present survey 
may well under-report all radio
listening (not just listening to commercial and ABC/SBS stations).