On January 30, 2014 the usually restrained Hindu Business Line carried a note headlined “Lies, Damned Lies, and Statistics”. Terse in tone as well as content, the note undersigned by the newspaper’s editor, Mukund Padmanabhan, was in response to the recently released Indian Readership Survey (IRS).  Padmanabhan’s incensed response isn’t the only harsh reaction the survey has elicited. The survey, which has been in the news for all the wrong reasons ever since it was unveiled on January 28, 2014 has come under intense attacks from most major print players who’ve described it as being “logic-defying” and “shocking”.

The IRS is a one-of-a-kind survey in the country, owing to its large sample size and comprehensive range of demographic information. Conducted by the Media Research Users Council (MRUC) and Readership Studies Council of India (RSCI), the 2013 survey used a sample size of more than 200,000 people across 32 states and Union Territories, 95 cities and 92 districts. Unlike the Audit Bureau of Circulations (ABC) data, which contains only circulation numbers of publications, the IRS provides extensive demographic details and consumption patterns. Which essentially means the IRS is what most advertisers and media planners refer to while making media buying decisions. It’s therefore understandable that editors and publishers of print publications are not exceptionally impressed at the findings of the survey, which paint a rather bleak (and on occasion, absurd) picture.

The 2013 survey was touted to be particularly important as it was conducted after a long hiatus and was the first by IRS’ new vendor, Nielsen. According to the MURC website, it incorporates “several features that distinguish it from the previous edition”. A note by the Chairman of the IRS Technical Committee, Paritosh Joshi, urges stakeholders not to make comparisons with old data on accounts of “superior methodology, advanced technology and greater statistical accuracy”.  However, there seems to be very few takers of that in edit rooms and marketing departments of the aggrieved publications.

“If this is the right way, and it is has led to ‘right” results, then accept that everything you were doing earlier was totally wrong. Similarly, if there was a fair degree of truth in the results published in earlier surveys, then accept that this was way off the mark”, said Padmanabhan in an email interview with Newslaundry. A joint statement released by The Hindu Group of Publications, Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhaskar, Bennett Coleman & Co, India Today, ABP, Lokmat, Outlook, DNA, Sakshi, Amar Ujala, The Tribune, Bartaman, Aaj Samaj, The Statesman, Mid-Day, Nai Dunia and Dinakaran also “condemned the survey in the harshest possible terms”. It described the survey as being “riddled with shocking anomalies, which defy logic and common sense”.  A few of the anomalies pointed out by the joint statement do come across as inconsistencies on the part of the surveyors. For instance, according to the IRS, Hindu Business Line has three times as many readers in Manipur as it does in Chennai – a proposition that is statistically almost impossible.

The fact that publications are more than concerned about possible ramifications of the survey on current/probable advertisers is evident from the print space editors have given to condemning the survey. Both The Times of India and The Hindu have published the full text of a joint statement on their front pages. The Hindu also carried a strongly worded note by its Editor-in-Chief on February 1, 2014. The note concluded that “a survey of this type with so many inaccuracies and absurd conclusions is of little value to readers, advertisers and publishers, and The Hindu is seeking the immediate withdrawal of the survey results”.

However, not everyone is convinced that the survey’s findings are completely flawed. Mint quoted Satyajit Sen, Chief Executive Officer, Zenith Optimedia as saying, “Publishers are jumping up and down because most of them have lost out. What will be the veracity of this data if it suddenly looks good for them?” Incidentally, Benoy Roychowdhury, Executive Director, HT Media Limited told exchange4media.com, “It is one of the largest surveys in the world and seems to have been done with all the care and attention possible”. The Hindustan Times – which is owned by HT Media – is one of the few publications to have seen a rise in its readership numbers – up to 43,55,000 readers from the 38,20,000 it had the last time the survey was done. Mint is owned by HT Media Limited.

Concerns of editors and publishers whose publications have been shown to experience a decline in readership according to the IRS don’t seem misplaced, though.  Communication consultant, Dilip Cherian said that while the survey’s results won’t be of much consequence at the policy-making level, it would definitely make an impact at the operational level. “The results are absurd and won’t change the perceptions of the senior echelons of media-planning firms. However, they will definitely influence decisions at the actual shop floor and that could be dangerous for publications that have lost out in the survey.”

Cherian’s trepidation was confirmed when we talked to a few media professionals working at one of India’s largest media-planning firms. “The Indian Readership Survey is what we go by – it’s almost like a Bible for us”, said a young professional who’s been in the business for just over the year. Another, slightly more experienced, echoed the same sentiments. “We have always learnt to respect and follow the IRS while advising clients. And we will keep doing that”, he said.

With no solution in the offing – MURC has refused to withdraw the survey and the Indian Newspaper Society has issued an advisory to all its members to withdraw subscription from the Indian Readership Survey – advertisers are set to be the biggest losers in this impasse. The television industry, incidentally, is undergoing a similar crisis with several channels demanding a new rating scheme and the ensuing confusion has helped no one.

Meanwhile, the other stakeholder in the IRS, the RSCI has called for a meeting on March 19, 2014 to discuss the survey. A solution will not only help advertisers make their choices smartly but also instill some confidence in readers who are being increasingly disillusioned about the integrity of the media in the country. The flipside of this entire matter is that the IRS has managed to make competitor publications and publishing houses such as The Hindu Group of Publications, Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhaskar, Bennett Coleman & Co, India Today, ABP, Lokmat, Outlook, DNA, Sakshi, Amar Ujala, The Tribune, Bartaman, Aaj Samaj, The Statesman, Mid-Day, Nai Dunia and Dinakaran see eye to eye. A classic case of my enemy’s enemy is my best friend.

 The author can be contacted at arunabh.saikia90@gmail.com