Ipsos MediaCT Launches Electronic Radio Meter
Ipsos MediaCT, the media, content and technology division of worldwide research group Ipsos, is beginning a major field test of its mobile radio audience measurement system MediaCell.
MediaCell is a revolutionary development that utilises additional software on an existing mobile phone handset to enable it to `listen' for codes inserted by a radio station at the point of transmission and thus identify the station, platform and time. The codes themselves are digital fingerprints which are inaudible to the human ear. Respondents taking part are not required to do anything special other than carry their mobile phones, which continue to operate as ordinary phones, with them as they go about their daily business.
Ipsos is working with a number of the leading commercial radio broadcasters in London and plans to build a panel of 200 respondents that will run for up to a year, delivering listening data on a daily basis.
The current development of MediaCell started two years ago in partnership with Intrasonics and since then the system has been extensively tested in the laboratory and underwent a successful field trial in Surrey in 2009.
Richard Silman, global CEO of Ipsos MediaCT said "We have always been confident that electronic measurement is the future for radio. We also see the mobile phone as the ideal candidate for a measurement device. The power and sophistication of mobiles is increasing all the time, even for low-end devices, and we feel the time is right for a new form of audience measurement for radio. I am delighted that our investment in this area has advanced to the final stages of testing and look forward to our first commercial deployment."
However, as yet there are no plans to commercialise the system in the UK where industry body RAJAR is the definitive source for radio audience measurement data, although RAJAR has been closely monitoring the development. RAJAR's research director, Paul Kennedy, said "RAJAR has maintained a watching brief since it set aside its own audiometer tests, and we will take a keen interest in this new trial".
Silman added "The mobile phone offers a number of advantages as a portable metering device - it is something that most people already have and carry with them at all times. Over the course of the next few years mobile phones are set to play an increasingly important role in market and survey research. They won't just offer an alternative way of delivering questionnaires but will open up possibilities for entirely new ways of carrying out research."
According to Luc Jonker, CEO and Chairman of Intrasonics, the deployment of the patented Intrasonics technology for Ipsos provides an excellent example of the company's acoustic data hiding capability. "Our R&D team in Cambridge has worked in very close partnership with Ipsos' technical departments across the globe and we are very excited to see this technology being brought to market. The continuous real time encoding of broadcast media and the ability of mobile phones to pick up these codes opens up a large range of possibilities for audience research as well as for the broadcasters themselves".
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About Ipsos MediaCT: Ipsos MediaCT is the global leader in research-based solutions that connect media, content and technology. As people view, listen to, read, search for, share and create content across a growing range of traditional media and newer digital platforms, companies need to understand consumer usage and behaviour, the value of brands across different platforms and how they can minimise risk in bringing new products and services to market. We bring expertise in a wide range of research techniques to companies in the media, entertainment, video games, on-line services, telecoms and technology industries. For more information, please connect with us at: www.ipsosmediact.com
About Intrasonics: Intrasonics Ltd is a Cambridge UK based company specialising in acoustic data hiding technologies. Mobile phones equipped with a software decoder are able to recover the data embedded in broadcast audio and act upon it. Intrasonics' technology supports levels of interactivity between broadcast audio and consumers which have not been previously possible. Intrasonics' technology is well protected by an extensive patent portfolio covering both the core technology and a variety of application areas. For further information, please contact us at: www.Intrasonics.com
