A Study Of Audience Research By Broadcasters The Case Of Radio Fana

Although audience information and feedback are essential for improvements of media workingrntrends, the values of them have been less appreciated by broadcasters. This is because thernbroadcasters and their audiences have asymmetric relationship; i.e., often there is one-wayrncommunication that has been existed between them. Especially, broadcasters in developingrncountries have less interested in conducting and processing audience research and leastrnintegrated it in the organization structures. Mainly, journalists in the broadcasting media havernaccomplished their work on the basis of personal hunch by thinking that “what interests themrnwould interest the audience.” Carrying out persistent audience research by broadcastingrnorganizations can significantly undertake the above problems, and using audience data for theirrnactivities have paramount importance for the improvements of the media as well as in practicingrnjournalism. Therefore, this study, under the title of “A study of Audience Research byrnBroadcasters: the case of Radio Fana”, is interested in examining the process and conduct ofrnaudience research that are made by Radio Fana.rnIn achieving the above aim, individual in-depth interviews are made with three senior reporters,rnthree chief-in-editors, five-producers and three audience researchers, and document analysis isrnalso employed. Purposive sampling is applied to select documents for analysis and informantsrnfor interview. The focus of the study is on the quality of audience research, the appropriatenessrnof the tools, the effectiveness of Radio Fana in practicing audience research and the extent of thernapplication of audience research results. In relation to its quality, measurements are the level ofrnqualification of audience researchers, the support and acceptance of the audience research, therninvolvement of the journalists and the development of high-quality research environment. Inrnrelation to the appropriateness of the tools, there are measurements; such as, the precision ofrndata gathering tools, the chance of producing apparent data for each programme and thernacceptability of evidences. In relation to its effectiveness and the extent of the application of thernresults, the measurements are the contribution of audience research in decision making process,rnformat development, audience development and organizational planning.rnThe results of the study show that processing and conducting audience research has become thernculture of Radio Fana. It is also true that the findings and recommendations of audiencernresearch have been implemented averagely. The study finds some indicators of the mediumrnimprovement which have brought through audience research; such as, the signal quality of thernstation, the style of programme presentation, the different formats of the programmes, thernnumber of advertisers, sponsors and partners, and the size of staff.

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