IRS and NRS to be merged
Posted by prnext on September 6, 2009
Here is some good news for the PR and Advertising folks, now they will not have to track two readership surveys. After months of speculation, the boards of Media Research Users Council (MRUC), the body set up by agencies, advertisers and media houses and the National Readership Studies Council (NRSC), a body constituted by the Indian Newspaper Society, Advertising Agencies Association of India and Audit Bureau of Circulation have decided to merge the Indian Readership Survey, or IRS, conducted by the former, and the National Readership Study or NRS, conducted by the latter.
The merged entity will be represented by 10 members from each side. However, there is no clarity on when the new research body will be established or the frequency of the readership survey. IRS is conducted twice a year. NRS hasn’t been conducted since 2006.
ACNielsen carried out the last edition of NRS while IRS is carried out by Hansa Research Group Pvt. Ltd (this contract expires in September).
NRSC chairman-Governing Council Sam Balsara and NRSC member-Governing Council Ashish Bagga have been given the mandate to interact with MRUC chairman-Governing Council G Krishnan and MRUC member – Board of Governors to discuss and finalise the modalities of the merger soon
