RAJAR Publication Code

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RAJAR Publication Code
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Contents
1. how to credit the data 2. competitive
stations 3. geographic unit 4. survey
period 5. not for publication 6. additional
data from Q2 2007 7. common sense 8. and
finally
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1. How to credit the data
When using RAJAR figures, you must always
acknowledge the source the TSA
the survey period e.g. RAJAR, station X TSA, 6
months ended December 2005 As survey periods
can be 3, 6 or 12 months depending on the size of
the station, it is important to specify the
duration of the survey for which you are showing
RAJAR results. It is tempting to label the
survey period as such Q4 2005, however this
terminology should only be used to describe a
survey period of 3 months, in other words do not
use it if the survey period is in fact 6 or 12
months. Please note that you should always use
the most recent published results.
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2. Competitive stations the Volumes Table 7

• only competitive stations that have a big enough
  TSA overlap can be compared on the same TSA.
• these stations are listed exhaustively in your
  Table 7 on the published volumes.
• DO NOT COMPARE YOUR RESULTS WITH STATIONS
• THAT DONT APPEAR ON YOUR TABLE 7.
• even if Station X covers most of your TSA, it
  doesnt necessarily mean that it will feature on
  your table 7. It will only appear in your table
  7 if your TSA accounts for at least 30 of
  Station Xs TSA.
• even if Station X features on your table 7, it
  is possible that your station will NOT appear on
  Stations X table 7 (this happens for instance if
  said stations are measured on different reporting
  periods). If that is the case, you can show
  comparative results on your TSA but not on
  theirs.
• - with the advent of digital, more and more
  stations now report nationally and will therefore
  feature on your table 7 under the heading Total
  Station X Network UK. If Station X is not on
  your table 7, do not compare your results with
  Station X. You can however compare your results
  with Total Station X Network UK.
• if on your table 7 there is an asterisk next to
  the name of one of your competitors, it means
  that the TSA overlap is only partial. Although
  you are still allowed to publish this data, you
  are requested to clearly state this fact by
  adding the mention
• stations marked with an asterisk do not cover
  the whole of this Total Survey Area.

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3. Geographic units

• the smallest geographic unit for which results
  can be published is a complete TSA.
• this means that you can show results for your
  station based on your TSA, or any competitors
  TSA (providing your station figures on their
  table 7), as long as you clearly state which TSA
  the analysis is based on.
• this also means that you cannot publish data on
  anything smaller than a TSA, such as postcode
  districts or sample points which are for internal
  use only.
• When publishing, circulating, quoting or
  otherwise referencing RAJAR results, the results
  must be taken from the most recent reporting
  period. If a map of the TSA is published or
  referenced, the map must be that which was in use
  during the fieldwork phase for the most recent
  reporting period. This applies even if a TSA
  change is in the process of being implemented.
  The new TSA map cannot be used in conjunction
  with results based on the old TSA.

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4. Survey period

• Depending on their size, stations report on 3, 6
  or 12 months, commonly referred to as Q, H and Y.
• Unless you explicitly state so, you should not
  compare results based on different survey periods
  (e.g. Station A on 6 months and Station B on 3
  months). The results featured for other stations
  on your table 7 are based on your survey period.
• You shouldnt show results based on anything
  else than 3, 6 or 12 months, apart from Table
  10s results (formerly named Table 9).
• Table 10 shows predicted cumulative audiences
  for your station week by week, up to 13 weeks.
  These results are obtained using a statistical
  model and are not real observations. Therefore,
  when showing these results, please clearly state
  they are predicted cumulative audiences.

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5. Not for publication

• Interim results there may be occasions where
  your station will receive interim results. As
  these interim results will only be based on part
  of your minimum sample requirement, they are for
  internal use only, not for publication.
• Area as the smallest geographic unit for
  publication is the TSA, this means that you are
  not allowed to publish postcode analysis or
  sample point analysis.
• Survey period as the smallest survey period is
  3 months, this means you are not allowed to
  publish figures based on anything else than 3, 6
  or 12 months. Analyses over a shorter period
  (e.g. Monthly results) are for internal use only.
• Station awareness the first question on the
  diary determines the respondents awareness of
  the stations available in their area. Although
  you can have access to your competitors results
  for this question by requesting a special
  analysis, this data is for internal use only.

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6. Additional data from Q2 2007

• With the introduction of the new survey in Q2
  2007, stations will have access to more data than
  before, in particular Out of Area listening and
  Platform data.
• Out of Area Under the new contract, any
  listening to a station outside of its reported
  TSA will be credited to the station and will not
  be recoded to the appropriate Other category.
  It will be possible for a station to analyse on a
  planning system its out-of-area listening in
  adjacent TSAs, or across the country. However,
  out-of-area data is unsolicited and, as such, is
  not regarded by RAJAR as a definitive measurement
  of out-of-area performance. For this reason,
  out-of-area information is intended for internal
  purposes only and should not be traded upon.
• - Platform data will be accessible to all
  stations through electronic planning systems and
  will not be published directly by RAJAR except at
  a generic level. Thus, the decision on whether to
  publish (or trade) data by platform will rest
  with individual stations who will be free to
  publish their own platform figures, although not
  those of any competitor services.

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7. Common sense

• These points may seem obvious but are all based
  on cases brought forward to RAJAR
• TSA change when a station changes its TSA, the
  data from the new quarter is strictly speaking
  not directly comparable with the previous
  quarter. If you make a comparison quarter on
  quarter for this station, the TSA change must be
  explicitly stated. This also applies when moving
  from postcode sector based TSAs to postcode
  districts.
• other listening if there is a new station in
  your TSA that is not reporting on RAJAR yet, do
  not assume that figures from any of the other
  categories can be attributed to this station
  (i.e. other station, other local commercial
  etc). Do not publish made-up results for this
  station based on other listening in your area.
• - when a broadcaster has an AM and FM service
  with similar station names, often each service
  reports separately (e.g. Radio Alpha FM and
  Radio Alpha AM, or Radio Alpha 1 and Radio
  Alpha 2) and also as a group (e.g. Total Radio
  Alpha AM/FM or Total Radio Alpha). When
  referring to results for the group, please make
  sure you clearly indicate so, either by using the
  name Total Radio Alpha if this is the way the
  group is labelled on the survey, or by clearly
  stating that Radio Alpha is the combination of
  2 services, Radio Alpha 1 and 2.

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7. Common sense

• unless explicitly stated, comparisons of
  competitive stations should be made on the same
  TSA. Comparing competitive stations on different
  TSAs can be misleading (e.g. mentioning your
  results on your TSA and your competitors on
  theirs).
• comparisons have to be made on a legitimate
  RAJAR TSA, not on a town (apart from London) or
  region. For example, do not say in the
  Manchester area, but for example in the Galaxy
  Manchester TSA or the Key Manchester TSA.
• comparisons between stations should be made on
  the most recent results. Dont compare your new
  results with your competitors old results
• when drilling the data (on age brackets for
  instance), check the sample size. The smaller
  the sample, the less reliable the results. For
  confidence limits, please check Appendix IV in
  the Volumes.

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8. And finally

• if in doubt on what you are allowed to publish,
  dont hesitate to ask for advice. Contact RAJAR
  on 020 7292 9040 or RadioCentre on 020 7306 2603.
• if you think a station has misrepresented your
  results and is in breach of the RAJAR Publication
  Code, please send all details to
  christel_at_rajar.co.uk
• we all make mistakes this time it may be you,
  next time it may be your competitor. We expect
  fair play from everyone on the survey, and if
  youve been asked to rectify a presentation, we
  trust you will act with as much diligence as you
  will expect your competitor to do so if they were
  in the wrong.