news

Audience survey turns into farce

What is supposed to be an audience survey that determines the strengths and weaknesses of television and radio stations by the Broadcasting Authority, is turning into more of a farce each year with the major broadcasting players getting wind of when the survey is being held.

Television stations braced themselves for the audience survey, which rumour had it, was being held over the past week or the week before.

The first public admittance that the BA survey was in the offing came almost two weeks ago when the initial anthrax hoaxes started being mailed and Super One television was one of the first victims.

Despite the closure of the television studio under orders of the health authorities the station still kept broadcasting with workers sleeping inside the complex for two whole days until it was given the all-clear.

The day after the hoax letter was received, during a telephone interview in an afternoon programme, Super One Chairman Alfred Mifsud remarked that the hoax came at a time when the BA usually carries out its audience survey.

The BA survey is the lifeline for television and radio stations because it determines the popularity of programmes and gives an audience profile for the different time slots. The stations use the results of the survey to attract advertisers and sponsors.

In March this year the survey had been heavily criticised by the Labour media primarily because the week when the survey was held coincided with the escalation of the La Salle-Dockyard issue. The Prime Minister’s flash press conference from Castille on Thursday had only been televised on NET TV and PBS - something which Super One television claimed was a disadvantage.

Various media practitioners told MaltaToday that to avoid any further controversy the BA should adopt the Italian system of registering audience levels. The Italians use an electronic system by which a box is affixed to the television set of a number of families chosen scientifically. The box records the station and time spent in front of the TV thus giving an accurate and instant result of what people watched.

Although the Italian system might have its shortcomings it is a widely respected way of judging television audience levels.