First Media Atlas tips upscale title reach higher

Launched in response to complaints from free daily The Sun and paid daily The New Straits Times -- both English titles -- that Nielsen's Media Index under-represented their readership figures, especially among high-end consumers, Media Atlas interviewed more than 800 people through computer-assisted telephone interviews and face-to-face interviews. "What it found was that as we expected, some of the more upscale titles seem to have higher reach than was previously reported," said Steve Murphy, managing director, Synovate Malaysia. But Murphy was quick to stress the first wave of results were from the platform's Fast Track study, with the full results only to be released once the second, more extensive phase through Q4 2005, was completed. Murphy confirmed discussions with the Joint Industry Committee for Print Audience Research, had indicated Synovate needed to provide 12 months of data for analysis on its methodology, before the organisation would make a recommendation to the industry, on whether Synovate's or Nielsen's research should be the currency of choice.