The Establishment Survey is here!

With the recent launch of the Establishment Survey (ES), the Publisher Research Council (PRC) provides a brief overview.

The Establishment Survey (ES) is a collaborative partnership between the Publisher Research Council (PRC), the Broadcast Research Council (BRC) and the Advertiser Media Forum (AMF) with the BRC and PRC being the funders and owners of the data. The aim is for media owners, marketers, and advertisers to use the survey as a strategic inter-media planning tool.

“ES is a multi-purpose, multi-media survey providing context for all media and all media currencies in South Africa,” explains Peter Langschmidt, Research Consultant to the PRC.  “The hub with donor currencies is based on global best practice and was proposed in 2013 by Kuper research while conducting an AMPS future proofing exercise for SAARF.”

The ES is a central hub with a “democratic sample” that matches population and is linked, via common fusion hooks (like demographics and media consumption), to currency donor research surveys. “These surveys generally match sales, so samples are skewed towards urban areas, we call these ‘monetary or sales samples’,” says Langschmidt. “The first currency to be linked will be TAMS in April, RAMS and PAMS will follow later in the year.”

Any other media owner survey, brand or product usage or survey with sufficient demographic and geographic hooks can be fused with the ES. Companies with large databases can even ‘multi-base’ their customer database with the ES.

The ES measures Reading (not just print and digital), Viewing (not just TV) and Listening (not just radio) which reflects the new reality of how people consume media.  Therefore the ES is completely platform agnostic displaying total audience as well as audience by individual platform. Cinema and On the Go are also included.

The nationally representative probability sample of people aged 15 years and over, with a sample size of 25 000 per annum will be released across two waves (12 500 per wave).  All measures are consistent across all media with the primary questionnaire being designed by a global expert from Kantar Media UK. New measures like time spent with each medium are also included.

The data is consistent and reliable as interviewing is spread over 49 weeks of the year, ensuring that all periods in the year are covered across all provinces and area types. Releases happen twice a year based on six months worth of data.

“After 40 years of using the single source AMPS this new ES hub and currency donor model takes some getting used to. However, working with the data and seeing how each constituency can now get the best of both worlds and control their own sample to match their medium has tremendous benefits, as opposed to everyone being shoe-horned into a single sample.”

The Establishment Survey launch can be classed as a ‘mini-launch’. The primary launch will be happening in September, when the first full year of data, based on the 25 000 sample, will be released. “The new reading currency, PAMS, will be linked to the ES and will be released shortly afterwards,” concludes Langschmidt.

For additional information and reading research visit www.prc.za.com.

Publisher Research Council (PRC) DNA

The Publisher Research Council (PRC) is a non for profit company that represents the interests of both print and online publishers in South Africa and conducts audience and efficacy research on behalf of its members. Primary research is conducted to gain an understanding of the broad media usage in South Africa as well as individual title audiences for member internal use and for advertisers and their agencies.

The PRC is owned by the major publishing houses, and members include Times Media Group, CTP Caxton, Independent Newspapers, Media24, Mail & Guardian and Ramsay Media. Currently the PRC members publish more than 700 newspapers and magazines in four different languages.