Readership: Numbers that didn’t make the news

Audience research is a wondrous thing. It makes me feel like a young child in a carnival. My head spins at the sight of all the swings and roundabouts.

The past fortnight has seen the release of two separate sets of readership research. Last week we received the quarterly survey by Nielsen, and a week earlier there was an annual snapshot from Roy Morgan.

The two cannot be directly compared because they relate to different measurement cycles and, doubtless, different methodology. The Roy Morgan survey also embraces online readership that is not captured by topline results of the other survey.

However, the consequence of wading through both surveys was a feeling that I spent too much time on the swings and had too many rides on the roundabout. I felt giddy.

The Roy Morgan survey of the year to June suggests that, although the New Zealand Herald and Waikato Times lost readers of their print editions (the former down 31,000 and the latter 12,000), The Post, The Press, and the Otago Daily Times gained readers. In the case of The Post it was an impressive 16,000 readers.

The Nielsen survey, however, paints a different picture. It suggests that all five metropolitans have suffered declining print readership over the past year.

In order to regain some sense of equilibrium, I temporarily put aside the Roy Morgan survey to concentrate on the Nielsen results. This was solely because I have a longer record of that research company’s audience figures. Continue reading “Readership: Numbers that didn’t make the news” →

An audience in the hand versus one in Neverland

I have some friendly advice for Radio New Zealand: Stick to the radio audience you know you can get, rather than the one you think you would like to have.

That advice is based on the belief that RNZ National’s cumulative audience decline from more than 700,000 in 2020 to less than 500,000 today is due in no small measure to its strategy of seeking new listeners at the expense of its old ones.

‘Old’ in this sense has two meanings. First it denotes those who has since switched elsewhere or off. Secondly it means, yes, listeners aged over 60 who are as valuable as those below it.

In both its music and talk programming, RNZ National has sought to meet social and cultural targets that are both worthy and in line with movements within New Zealand society. It plays music that supports local musicians and music production. It has interspersed te reo into its dialogue and promoted culturally diverse programming. Its subject matter, and sometimes its approach, have shifted to reflect these new emphases.

In the process it has alienated older listeners used to certain formats that reflected their interests and tastes. Continue reading “An audience in the hand versus one in Neverland” →

Raising the Bar: The Day the News Dies

“The Day the News Dies” was a presentation – given in my role as an honorary research fellow at Koi Tū: The Centre for Informed Futures – at the Raising the Bar event organised by the University of Auckland on 27 August 2024. You can also listen to the talk here

There is a little book entitled The Piano Player in the Brothel by celebrated Spanish editor Juan Luis Cebrián. It takes its title from a popular saying: “Don’t tell my mother I’m a journalist. She thinks I play piano in the whorehouse”.

It’s an association that goes back some way. The 19th-century English philosopher John Stuart Mill – himself a sometime journalist – wrote: “Journalism is the vilest and most degrading of all trades because more affectation and hypocrisy, and more subservience to the baser feelings of others, are necessary for carrying it on than for any other trade from that of brothel-keeper upwards.” I’m not sure whether that is more an indictment of human beings than of journalists, but it’s journalism that sustains the reputational damage.

So, if it’s held in such low regard – apologies to any brothel-keepers present – why should we worry if it dies? I hope that by the end of this talk you will not only know the answer but be as worried by the prospect of its demise as I am. Continue reading “Raising the Bar: The Day the News Dies” →

More to a name than meets the eye

The local media equivalent of China Watchers will be keeping a close eye on who takes the job of chief executive at Stuff.

The position becomes vacant with the move by Laura Maxwell to take over News Corp’s Queensland operations.

The role of CEO in a one of our main media companies is significant in its own right but the next appointment could well have additional impact.

It may point to the future direction in which owner Sinead Boucher wishes to see the company go.

If the appointment is internal, the signal it sends will likely be ‘steady as she goes’. However, the identity of an external appointment could give clues to a strategic shift.

Stuff’s ultimate owner is Kenepuru Holdings, whose sole shareholder is Boucher. As a private company, Stuff does not have the same disclosure requirements as a listed company like NZME. Hence, we only know about Stuff’s plans if Boucher chooses to make a public comment.

However, if the new CEO is an external appointment, that person’s background may be a strong indicator of where Boucher wishes to take the company. Depending on that background, it may also indicate where the owner’s thinking may be going in terms of capital structure and business sectors. Continue reading “More to a name than meets the eye” →