Back to the future: ThinkNewsBrands appoints Roy Morgan as measurement partner, Ipsos out, emma name dropped

News Plus 21 Apr 2021 - 2 min read

Back to the future: ThinkNewsBrands appoints Roy Morgan as measurement partner, Ipsos out, emma name dropped

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Roy's return: After being dumped by ThinkNewsBrands (then NewsMediaWorks), research firm Roy Morgan is back to implement a single unified readership metric for Total News, produced by one entity rather than with multiple data sources.

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Tags: Ipsos ThinkNewsBrands roy morgan

After being replaced eight years ago as the measurement authority for news readership after unhappiness from News Corp, ThinkNewsBrands has returned to Roy Morgan to implement a single unified readership measurement service. The decision sees current measurement partner Ipsos dropped and the readership metric emma retired.

What you need to know:

ThinkNewsBrands has appointed Roy Morgan to oversee news readership measurement from 1 July.
The move sees current provider Ipsos dropped and the emma measurement retired.
Roy Morgan's return also marks the implementation a single unified readership measurement for total news - print and digital.

Back in business

ThinkNewsBrands has announced the appointment of Roy Morgan to oversee news readership measurement from 1 July.

The data and analytics business was replaced eight years ago as the measurement authority for news readership, with current partner Ipsos securing the account.

Ironically, parts of the news media industry led by News Corp were unhappy with Roy Morgan a decade ago and pushed for a new readership methodology and provider through a tender process. The newsmedia sector hit some resistance from agencies in the rollout of emma.

Ipsos will no longer work with ThinkNewsBrands, while the emma measurement service, which combined Ipsos' physical readership data with Nielsen's digital data, will be retired.

Industry sources hinted to price being a factor behind ThinkNewsBrands' decision not to renew Ipsos.

"We have listened to the industry and acknowledge the need to implement a single unified readership metric for Total News, produced by one entity rather than with multiple data sources," ThinkNewsBrands said in a statement.

"The move to a Total News metric brings clarity to the industry as all advertisers, agencies and publishers will now rely on one measurement, approved and used by all parties, enabling better campaign investment decisions through simplified media planning tools."

When the partnership begins in July, updates will be made within the Roy Morgan database, as additional publications are included and upgrade of categories to more clearly represent the news platform as a whole.

Quarterly readership data will continue to be released under the new term, 'Total News', with the first data release scheduled for August. Current users of emma will retain access to historical data to conduct comparative analysis where required.