Until July all regional readership research seeking Jicreg approval had to be conducted face-to-face, though thanks to the results of a parallel test pitting face-to-face against telephone research, the organisation’s rules were updated to allow studies to be completed via phone.

Jicreg said rising costs, reduced research budgets and declining response rates had led to “a decline in surveyed titles” that needed to be “reversed”.

Roger Holland, Jicreg CEO, said: “The opportunity to choose methodologies and the predicted associated cost savings may enable more publishers to commission Jicreg research.”

Kantar Media director Jonathan Brown puts the cost savings of telephone versus face-to-face research in the region of 30–40%. The agency’s work with Northcliffe also sees it linking readership data to information about consumer lifestyles and media consumption held within the Target Group Index database.