Indian Readership Survey Stuck In Limbo: Advertisers Forced To Rely On Outdated 2019 Data

Mumbai: Even though there are reports that the Media Research Users Council (MRUC) has asked its technical committee to prepare a questionnaire for the much-awaited Indian Readership Survey (IRS) and shortlist an agency to conduct the survey, media insiders say that in the absence of a timeframe within which to conduct the survey there is considerable uncertainty.

Hormusji Cama, former chairman of MRUC, is reported to have confirmed that no deadline has been set for conducting the IRS. In fact, there are indications that the Council may go only for a pilot survery before launching a full-fledged exercise.

Exchange for Media (e4m) , a digital website dealing with media-related issues, had earlier reported that media owners had agreed to apply the same cost-sharing formula for the upcoming IRS as was used in the 2019 IRS.

Advertisers Forced To Rely On Old Data

At present, advertisers have to depend on old data which is totally outdated and useless in the new set up. "The IRS is used to gain insights into print and media consumption patterns, product ownership, demographics, and usage covering over 100 product categories across surveyed households," according to e4m. The problem is that since 2019 a sea change has taken place and by basing their decisions on the outdated six-year-old IRS, advertisers are finding that their ad spend does not yield the expected results. This is not surprising because their media planning based on data not rooted in reality.

Said Kanchan Srivastav, an avid media watcher: "A leading English daily's Mumbai circulation has plunged from 5.5 lakh copies in 2020 preCovid to approximately 1.5 lakhs now." And yet, advertisers continue to advertise in this daily thinking its circulation is 5.5 lakhs. Also, some of the big players are selling a sizable portion of their copies as "raddi" in the depots and through vendors thereby taking advertisers for a long ride.

Now you know why the big players have been resisting not only a fresh IRS but also not submitting their circulation figures to ABC audit all these years. Incidentally, the FPJ is the only English daily of Mumbai which has subjected its circulation to ABC audit.

Reasons Behind IRS Survey Delay

Post-2019, the IRS was delayed on the specious plea that post-Covid, most housing societies were adverse to letting surveyors enter their premises. This is far from the truth. The fact that e-commerce delivery boys' footfall in housing societies has increased exponentially post-Covid.

Another excuse was that in metro cities like Mumbai and Delhi, most households consist of husbands and wives who are both working and are away till late night and even if one manages to reach them they may not be willing to spare 45 minutes needed for the IRS. This is at best an assumption without any empirical basis

Published on: Thursday, August 21, 2025, 07:55 AM IST