Crisis over IRS deepens

Hopes of reconciliation recede as MRUC stands by report and INS advises members to withdraw from Indian Readership Survey.

The dispute over the results of the Indian Readership Survey 2013 has come to a head. With the Media Research Users Council (MRUC) standing by the survey in a statement last evening, the Indian Newspaper Society (INS) has told its members to reject the report.

Newspaper publishers have been agitated ever since the findings of the IRS 2013 were released on January 28. First, 18 major publishers got together to trash the report pointing to what they said were "serious anomalies" in the report. The statement pointed out contradictions between readership and circulation figures and said that the data was unusable.

On Monday, the apex body of print publishers, INS, had asked the MRUC to withdraw the findings or else its members would be compelled to unsubscribe from the IRS in future. It gave the MRUC 24 hours to meet its demands.

"Last evening, MRUC issued a press statement in which it stood by the IRS and said that, in any case, it could not act unilaterally because it does not have the authority to do so. It said that a decision would be taken by the Readership Studies Council of India in its meeting on February 19.."

"Within minutes of the MRUC statement, INS made true its threat of escalating the issue. It issued an advisory to its members which went, "The executive committee of the Indian Newspaper Society at its meeting held here on Monday unanimously rejected the findings of Indian Readership Survey 2013 and urged the Media Research Users' Council to withdraw its report forthwith. MRUC having refused to withdraw its report, the Indian Newspaper Society urges its members to reject IRS 2013 and to take such steps for restitution as they may be advised to take.."

The turn that the IRS controversy has taken is unexpected because it is a survey that has involved the industry. The IRS, the largest continuous readership survey in the world, was carried out by The Nielsen Company. However, this came about following the creation of the RSCI (Readership Studies Council of India) jointly by the MRUC and the ABC (Audit Bureau of Circulation) in November 2011.

At the time, 20 senior representatives of advertisers, agencies and publishers who served on the RSCI Managing Committee and sub-committees participated in the process of shortlisting the research agency. Another two dozen professionals were involved in the technical deliberations.

It is difficult to see at this point how the positions of the antagonists can be reconciled. It is also unclear what yardstick will be used by print buyers to measure readership in the months to come.

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