The National Association of Broadcasters (NAB) has recalled its initial Request for Proposal in the interests of ensuring a “fair and transparent tender process”.
The NAB initially issued a RFP late last year but wants to expand its terms of reference around the development and design of a new radio audience measurement research system that is in line with international best practice.
As such, it has appointed local consultancy Yardstick to manage the invitation to tender, and an international expert, Roger Gane, to provide technical input. These appointments were made to ensure transparency, credibility and good corporate governance, NAB says.
It also wanted to consult further with South African stakeholders including marketers, media agencies and industry bodies such as the Marketing Association of South Africa (Masa) and the Advertising Media Forum (AMF).
“The NAB wants the process to be as transparent as possible,” said a spokesman. “It wants to ensure the procurement process is fair and the RFP in line with the tender requirements.” The aim is to provide a “robust and independent outcome”.
Those who responded to the initial RFP have been requested to collect their (unopened) documents.
The current RAMS expires in 2015, and the process of creating a new survey complicated by the NAB’s withdrawal from the South African Audience Research Foundation in June last year. The NAB also had a fundamental disagreement with Saarf over television audience measurement that resulted in a complete overhaul of the country’s television panels. Now a tripartite agreement between the NAB, Saarf and service provider AC Nielsen is in the process of being signed off. This will see the Television Audience Measurement Survey (TAMS) run for the duration of 2014. After that, a broadcasting joint industry committee will take over and continue the contract with Nielsen from 2015 to 2019. Only then will a new tender will be issued.
The NAB can’t confirm when the new RFP, with its redeveloped guidelines, will be issued, but hopes it will be in the next couple of months, possibly as soon as April.
Yardstick has a 25-year track record in the provision of measurement and assurance services to the marketing and communication industry. This comes with extensive experience in the facilitation of tender and procurement processes. It has developed proprietary tools and processes to assist and guide companies through the process of selection and appointment of suitable service providers.
Gane, says the NAB, is a UK based research consultant with extensive experience with RSMB, Ipsos Media (now MediaCT), RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research Ltd), AGB Research Group and AGB Television International.
He was technical judge for IPA’s Advertising Effectiveness Awards, is the current chairman of the ASI, a European conference on developments in radio and radio audience measurement and member of the Market Research Society. Gane has also had exposure to the South African radio landscape as he was appointed by Saarf in 2013 to conduct an audit on RAMS.
