CRA to launch 2022 regional radio ratings with first Karratha survey results
• CRA's contract with research firm Xtra Insights has also been extended for another two years
Radio ratings surveys will be conducted in 27 regional markets across Australia in 2022 with the results for the WA town of Karratha to be released March 15, industry body Commercial Radio Australia has said.
CRA also announced it has extended its audience measurement contract with research firm Xtra Insights for another two years.
Karratha, based in the Pilbara region of WA, has a population of just 16,800 people aged 10+, and has never been surveyed before.
The largest market to be surveyed this year will be Geelong in Victoria, with a population of 527,500. Other markets to be surveyed include Wollongong, Gosford, Sunshine Coast, and Hobart.
CRA chief executive officer Joan Warner said: “We’re pleased to extend our partnership with Xtra Insights to survey 27 markets this year, including two that have never been previously surveyed - Karratha in Western Australia and Atherton in Queensland. The research conducted by Xtra over the past five years has been valuable in demonstrating the breadth and depth of radio’s reach across the country.”
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Xtra Insights has conducted surveys in 47 different regional radio markets since it was appointed in January 2016.
Despite the disruptions caused by Covid, 25 regional radio markets were surveyed in 2021, comprising 23,000 interviews.
Bethaney Lawler, general manager of Xtra Insights, said: “It has been a pleasure to work with Commercial Radio Australia and the regional broadcasters since the early days of RRAMS. We look forward to the next two years as we continue to build and evolve the valuable service Xtra provides to these markets.”
Under the agreement with CRA, commercial radio stations can commission Xtra to undertake surveys in conjunction with public broadcasters in their licence area. All agencies can access the data for free through the Frequency Regional Radio ratings analyser tool, including listening statistics by market, station, demographic and daypart.
Regional survey results are also available online here, with the results for Karratha published after 11am AEDT.
