Data by no means within reach
Radiocontrol Data is still blocked. This is fueling calls for a research foundation.
Radiocontrol Data is still blocked. This is fueling calls for a research foundation.
The Radiocontrol data for Radios Grischa and Fréquence Jura (FJ) are still under lock and key. Neither SRG nor the SRG Research Service (FD) have set a date for the release of this data, which was blocked at the beginning of the year due to a weighting error. While the data for the other radios was released in mid-May, SRG Director General Armin Walpen maintained the block for Grischa and FJ because they had up to 30 percent fewer listeners.
The interference in research, which is probably contrary to the statutes, caused outrage among private radio stations (see WW 19/04). This is being fueled by the ongoing ban, as the exact reasons for the delay cannot be ascertained.
Rumors are now doing the rounds. For example, that (local) radio use by foreign tourists is now being investigated. These are not included in the RC panel. However, as they temporarily increase the population in some places by 100 percent and some of them probably also listen to (local) radio, they are likely to increase the reach of some stations.
This situation already existed at the time of the media study. "We pointed this out around ten years ago, but it was not addressed at the time," says Martin Muerner, Head of Broadcasting at Radio BeO. In any case, the question arises as to whether the tourism approach can be used to explain the loss of listeners - or whether the loss is currently inexplicable but should be compensated for with tourist listeners.
There is growing unease about the SRG, and calls for radio and TV research to be outsourced from the SRG are getting louder. On June 22, the board of the Swiss Private Radio Association unanimously confirmed its continued support for the research foundation approved by the National Council.
Markus Knöpfli
The Radiocontrol data for Radios Grischa and Fréquence Jura (FJ) are still under lock and key. Neither SRG nor the SRG Research Service (FD) have set a date for the release of this data, which was blocked at the beginning of the year due to a weighting error. While the data for the other radios was released in mid-May, SRG Director General Armin Walpen maintained the block for Grischa and FJ because they had up to 30 percent fewer listeners.
The interference in research, which is probably contrary to the statutes, caused outrage among private radio stations (see WW 19/04). This is being fueled by the ongoing ban, as the exact reasons for the delay cannot be ascertained.
Rumors are now doing the rounds. For example, that (local) radio use by foreign tourists is now being investigated. These are not included in the RC panel. However, as they temporarily increase the population in some places by 100 percent and some of them probably also listen to (local) radio, they are likely to increase the reach of some stations.
This situation already existed at the time of the media study. "We pointed this out around ten years ago, but it was not addressed at the time," says Martin Muerner, Head of Broadcasting at Radio BeO. In any case, the question arises as to whether the tourism approach can be used to explain the loss of listeners - or whether the loss is currently inexplicable but should be compensated for with tourist listeners.
There is growing unease about the SRG, and calls for radio and TV research to be outsourced from the SRG are getting louder. On June 22, the board of the Swiss Private Radio Association unanimously confirmed its continued support for the research foundation approved by the National Council.
Markus Knöpfli
