Radio Audience Measurement in France: EAR >

The EAR Study Study Any research done across a population, line of business, or products (programme content, programme schedules, etc.) A study relies most often on the data coming out of a survey (or surveys). Find out more 's Hybrid Methodology

To capture the full complexity of today's listening habits, the EAR study combines two complementary measurement approaches: self-reported audience audience The set of listeners, viewers, or TV viewers in which each individual is equally weighted, regardless of their listening/viewing duration or frequency of contact. Find out more data data Digital data Find out more and automated audience measurement audience measurement Quantitative study of the frequency of use of media. Find out more .

Telephone Surveys: The Self-Reported Measurement Component

The first pillar of the EAR study is a large-scale telephone survey survey A statistical method that aims to produce information about a population by interviewing part of the population (sample). This word is generally used to mean a survey conducted on a sample that have been interviewed using a questionnaire or else systematically observed. Find out more , widely recognised as a market benchmark.

This methodology captures respondents' listening behaviour on the previous day, regardless of how the radio content was accessed, the device used, or the listening location.

Interviews are conducted every day of the year:

• From 3:30 p.m. to 9:00 p.m. on weekdays;
• From 11:00 a.m. on Saturdays;
• From 3:00 p.m. on Sundays.

To reflect evolving communication habits, more than 75% of interviews are conducted via mobile phones.

The survey is based on a particularly robust sample sample A subset of the population studied, selected in accordance with a sampling plan, and subject to the collection of information. Find out more design, with approximately 100,000 interviews conducted annually to represent the French population population The universe of a survey composed of basic statistical units. These units may be physical persons, households, companies, municipalities, etc. The population serves as a sampling frame for selecting a sample, and as a basis for calculation of the extrapolations from the sample. Find out more aged 13 and over at the national level. At the local level, even the smallest survey areas benefit from a minimum sample of 380 interviews.

Individual Audience Measurement (AIP): The Automated Component

The second component, marketed under EAR > Insights, is based on passive audience measurement.

This methodology relies on watermarking watermarking The technology used in television and radio audience measurement. Watermarking consists of inserting an (audio) tag into broadcasts that is inaudible to the human ear. This tag identifies the channel airing the programme, as well as regular markers of the broadcast time. Audience meters installed in panellist homes detect these signals. Find out more technology, whereby broadcasters insert inaudible audio codes into their radio programmes.

A representative representative A sample is said to be representative when it has been generated via a representative draw, meaning that each individual in the population had a non-zero probability of being selected. Representativeness relates to the sample and not to a unit of the population. It is not synonymous with a proportional sample or a "reduced model" of the population studied. In survey theory, it has been demonstrated that an optimal sampling strategy consists of organising the sample according to the variables that are most correlated to the subject of the study. Find out more panel panel A sample from which information is collected over time. It can be questioned several times at regular intervals. This method is pertinent for studying changes in behaviour. The sample can be questioned continuously: - either: each individual in the panel is asked to fill in a daily questionnaire relating to the subject of the study. This is the case for the Radio panel. - or the information is recorded and returned regularly. This is the case for the Médiamat panel. This method is pertinent for understanding behavioural patterns and their changes if the panel lasts long enough. Find out more of more than 5,500 individuals aged 13 and over carries a portable audience measurement device known as RateOnAir.

The device accompanies panellists throughout their daily lives and automatically detects the audio codes embedded in broadcasts. This enables continuous measurement of listening behaviour and provides detailed insights into audience habits over extended periods.

Solutions Designed for Industry Professionals

Radio audience measurement in France is available through a range of solutions tailored to the needs of broadcasters, media agencies, advertising agencies, advertisers and institutional stakeholders.

These data help industry professionals to:

• Understand their audiences;
• Optimise programming strategies;
• Support media planning media planning All of the techniques for defining a media plan (or campaign plan), justifying the choice of the formats used within one or several media, and calculating the performances of a combination of formats. Find out more decisions;
• Evaluate campaign performance;
• Maximise the value of advertising inventory.

The EAR offering is structured around four complementary products.

EAR > National

Provides audience data for an average average The average is one of the most important statistical indicators for a set of numbers. By default, it is the arithmetic mean, calculated by adding the values in the set and then dividing that sum by the number of values. Find out more weekday (Monday to Friday) at the national level, with quarter-hour reporting across four publication waves each year.

EAR > Local

Provides audience data for an average day average day Data relating to an average day correspond to the arithmetic mean of the corresponding data over the different days of the week, with this average being calculated over all of the weeks in the period studied. The idea of the average day Monday-Friday is also used: the week is then limited to five days. Find out more across regions, departments and nearly 100 metropolitan areas, covering more than 200 standard reporting areas.

EAR > Île-de-France

Focuses specifically on the French capital region region Geographic division. Mainland France is organised into 13 administrative regions (INSEE regions - there were previously 22 regions). Find out more , with more than 18,000 interviews conducted annually and four reporting waves per year.

EAR > Insights

Uses the automated audience panel to analyse listening behaviour over an average four-week period, including audience reach reach Reach is the term used to describe the reach achieved by a medium, publication, advertisement or campaign. It corresponds to the number of users reached and is therefore quantitative data. Reach plays a key role in measuring return on investment. It is used to determine whether or not the communication is effective. Whether for a website or a social network, reach corresponds to the proportion of the Internet user population or the audience reached by the site or network over a set period. Find out more , listening frequency frequency In electronics, the frequency characterises a vibrating motion, such as an electromagnetic wave: it is the number of times the phenomenon is produced per second (the unit of measurement is the Hertz). In statistics, it is the number of times an event takes place, expressed as a percentage. In computing, it expresses the power of a computer's processors. For example: Pentium III 650 MHz Find out more and audience duplication audience duplication Processing to calculate the common audiences of two formats, shows, advertising slots, or time slots. The duplication between two instances of the same format is called internal duplication. It is because of the phenomenon of duplication that cumulative audiences cannot be added up. Find out more between stations.

These datasets directly support radio media planning. While EAR > National provides the socio-demographic indicators and audience metrics required for campaign planning and GRP GRP The Gross Rating Point is an indicator of advertising impressions that measures the strength of a media plan. This is the average number of contacts per 100 individuals in the target group studied. It is also calculated by adding the audiences (expressed as a percentage) for each insertion in the plan, or by multiplying the total coverage by the average frequency (GRP = coverage (in %) x average frequency). Find out more calculations, EAR > Insights enables professionals to evaluate reach, frequency and audience loyalty in greater depth.

A History of Continuous Innovation

The credibility and authority of radio audience measurement in France have been built through decades of continuous innovation.

Since its launch by Médiamétrie in 1986, the system has regularly evolved to reflect changes in listening habits and technology. Key milestones include the introduction of Médialocales in 1989 and the launch of the Radio Panel in 1993, which relied on self-completed listening diaries.

More recently, the pace of innovation has accelerated. In 2021, EAR > National and EAR > Local replaced the historic 126,000 Radio survey and the Médialocales measurement system. In 2022, automated individual audience measurement was introduced through EAR > Insights, replacing the former Radio Panel and ushering radio audience measurement in France into a new era of data-driven audience analytics.