Why is the industry divided on resuming IRS?
The Indian Readership Survey (IRS) continues to remain elusive, keeping advertisers and marketers blindfolded on the updated print readership numbers. The survey was last conducted in 2019. While some FMCG advertisers shared that even though they have an internal mechanism to estimate readership or circulation numbers, unified data from a credible source would help them trust the medium and invest in it much more.
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However, the talk on the grapevine suggests some print players are not keen to pay for the readership survey.
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Industry Speak While several publishers, e4m spoke to, said they wanted the “true numbers” to be revealed by the IRS, others preferred not to address the elephant in the room. The Managing Editor of a widely read daily shared that post Covid the print space has declined, in terms of pagination and ad rates. “We are living in a very different era now. We should be honest enough to own up to our new numbers, which has been a new world for all industries post Covid. Even if there is a decrease, let's own up, let's face it,” he said. Publishers have been fearing that the updated numbers will force them to reduce ad rates as per the current circulation figures, an industry watcher said. The Business Head of another daily highlighted that it was obvious now that many print players wouldn’t pay a fee to conduct another survey because “we all know how badly the numbers have dropped”. Sharing a different perspective, a newspaper governing body’s senior official said, “All big advertisers and the advertising agencies have their channel of information. IRS, ABC or even RNI figures don’t alter their print campaign plans.” “An advertiser investing about Rs 100 crore in the market doesn't care about the IRS or ABC. They care about how big their production is to launch a campaign. They don't depend on this information since they know it all. They will anyway park their money wherever the eyeballs are.” Highlighting another issue, another industry expert said that after the pandemic several hawkers did not return to the cities and even if they did, they found the idea of becoming a delivery partner a better option. “This is also a reason why circulation is not coming up. This is not a career option for the younger lot as they have better alternatives.” Advertisers’ Take An official from an Indian multinational, which makes biscuits and confectionery products and advertises actively on newspapers, shared, “Everyone knows that during Covid, print had almost been quiet for 4-6 months. Even when circulation resumed, readers were not willing to subscribe for about the following 2 years. Moreover, with an easy and abundant availability of e-papers consumers started moving from physical papers and got accustomed to the digital world.” The expert further said that “the lack of IRS and ABC is a big stumbling block since there is no measurement”. “There is no authenticity now, we don't know the real numbers. As a result, there is a black hole and now we have to go a lot more by hearsay.” Solutions any? According to the Managing Editor of a daily, advertisers should start asking publishers to show the real numbers. “Publishers today provide a certain discount on ad rates. Agencies or their clients are happy but no one has been asking that basis on which these rates are fixed,” he said. Sharing a possible way out, another industry expert said that we could follow the US model wherein the ABC survey includes digital publisher subscription figures. “So if a publication reports that it has a circulation of 3 lakhs, 1 lakh of it could be digital. This is not happening in India till now. The publisher will only want to bring back circulation in markets where they earn money and cover prices are good. If this starts happening, the industry may then come together to reveal numbers that impact the advertiser’s decision.”
Tags : Covid Mruc Indian Readership Survey Print Irs