Audience research training for
Local Radios in Afghanistan
07 Nov 2014
MiCT
Media in Cooperation and Transition
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Capacity building for media practitioners
Production and distribution
Media / audience research (under….)
Main regional focus Middle East / North
Africa, Central Asia
„Afghanistan-Today.org“
– Capacity building for local journalists since 2011
– Capacity building for media management staff
and publishers started in 2014
• main focus financial sustainability of local radio
stations
Approach
„Reliable & affordable“  [low cost]
Initial training workshop with staff from 8 local radio
stations from different parts of Afghanistan
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Finance models for media
Business plans / media planning
Knowing your audience
Two Perspectives
Knowing the audience and the audience‘s needs and
preferences
a) as a basis to improve programming, to „serve the
community“, to achive (development) objectives
b) as a basis to generate income (…to survive)
„Only by winning over, serving, and deeply knowing
their customers will publishers find the business
models to sustain themselves“ (Ken Doctor)
Approach
Conditions
– Experimental
– No previous exposure, no previous training
– Limited computer literacy
– Extremely limited (financial) resources
– ToT character
Find the coach
Knowing your audience
• Why you would want to learn “stuff” about
your audience
• How you could do it
• and what you can do with the results
Knowing your audience
• Research basics
• Practical training (interviewer training),
examples of questionnaires etc.
• Analysis of results
• Follow-up support after the workshop
(Radio Rabio Balkhi, Radio Abaceen)
Radio Balkhi
Follow-up
• Radio Abaceen (Peace
Radio)
• Kunar, Nanagarhar, Laghman
and Noristan
• Radio Rabea Balkhi
(Womens‘ radio)
• Balkh Province
• Surveys 2nd quarter of
2014
Radio Abaceen
What did they want to know?
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Demographics
Preferred languages
Preferred programs /shows
Preferred topics
Listening frequency / hours during the day
Overall assessment of the program / station
Suggestions for improvements
Issues
The notion of incompleteness
• Interviewers (ToT)
• Translation
• Interview Situation
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• Sampling
• Did we get the minorities?
• Research vs. Measurement
Interview situation
Interview situation
Remarks
• Reporting done by Rabia / Abaceen with
support from our side
• Initial changes happened already
(program grid)
• Low cost exercise (!)
Next steps
• Follow-up capacity building in management,
strategy development, program grid
development
– 1:1 coaching (?)
• Follow-up capacity building in research
– More interviewer training, sampling, computer
literacy etc.
– Tool box for local audience research (?)
Next steps: Advertising revenue
• Business plan development
– How to approach (local) advertising clients
• Networking between local radio stations?
Thank you