New IRS reveals opportunities galore and strength of the vernacular The new Indian Readership Survey that

was revealed this morning will come as a breath of fresh air for all stakeholders the publisher, the advertiser and the media agency. The study brings much needed data after a gap of about a year. Thanks to the new guidelines for television audience measurement issued by the ministry of information and broadcasting and spproved by the union cabinet, it is likely that we will face a measurement dark period for T! audiences for a period of about si" months. Thanks to today#s announcement, there will be relief that at list one ma$or medium, print, will be measured. Not $ust measured but measured with far greater width, depth and reliability than it was earlier. The highlights of the survey are as follows% The base is now a robust &,'(,)*+ ,thousands-. That#s a staggering &'( million households. T! rules media consumption, with '.' million stating that they consume it, print is consumed by &)* million, radio by ). million, the internet by (. million and cinema by /' million. ,0onsumption needs to have been in the last one month-. No 1nglish publication other than The Times of India is in the top ten publications list, which lists 2ainik 3agran, 4industan, 2ainik 5haskar, 6alayala 6anorama, 2aily Thanthi, Ra$asthan 7atrika , The Times of India, 8mar 9$ala, 6athrubhumi and :okmat as the top ten. There are surprises in the top 1nglish maga;ines list, which India Today heads. 4owever, 7ratiyogita 2arpan, The Sportstar and <eneral =nowledge Today are measured to have more readership than >utlook The most coveted consumption classes, the middle class and the rich, are both growing. '+ percent of individuals have completed school, *. percent are graduates and &/ percent are illiterate. ?igures for durable ownership highlight the potential. 8t an all India level, even refrigerators have only &* percent penetration and two wheelers have $ust &+ percent. 7enetration of ?60< products shows that the consumption classes are growing encouragingly. 1dible oil is now consumed by @* percent of households, sugar by )@ percent, toothpaste by /@ percent. The opportunity is highlighted again when one sees that even agarbatti is consumed by $ust '' percent and biscuits by only () percent.