Categorising and Measuring Audiences

Why Categorise Audiences?

Media organisations cannot sell advertising space or justify production budgets simply by saying “lots of people watch this.” Advertisers want to know which people — their age, income, values and habits. This is why the media industry invests heavily in audience research and categorisation. Three main types of segmentation are used: demographic segmentation, psychographic segmentation, and geographic segmentation.

The NRS Social Grade System

The most widely used demographic tool in UK media is the NRS social grade system, developed by the National Readership Survey and also used by JICNARS. The six grades are:

• A — higher managerial, administrative or professional occupations (e.g. senior managers, doctors, solicitors)
• B — intermediate managerial, administrative or professional occupations (e.g. teachers, nurses, junior managers)
• C1 — supervisory, clerical and junior managerial occupations (e.g. office supervisors, sales staff)
• C2 — skilled manual workers (e.g. electricians, plumbers)
• D — semi-skilled and unskilled manual workers
• E — state pensioners, casual and lowest-grade workers, and people unemployed with state benefits only

Grade A and B individuals are often grouped as “ABC1” to describe an affluent, educated demographic; C2DE describes a working-class, lower-income grouping. These labels appear constantly in media planning documents and advertising rate cards.

Psychographic Segmentation

Demographic data tells you who audiences are; psychographic data tells you how they think and what they value. Several frameworks exist. Young and Rubicam’s 4Cs model divides consumers by motivation. In the UK, the Values, Attitudes and Lifestyles (VALS) framework and variations on it have been applied to audience planning. Psychographic profiling allows an advertiser to target not just who a person is, but why they might want a product — their aspirations, anxieties and identity markers.

A streaming service launching a new nature documentary, for example, might target a psychographic profile defined by curiosity, environmental concern and cultural aspiration rather than simply by age or income bracket. The content and marketing would then be calibrated to speak to those values.

BARB: Measuring Television Audiences

The most authoritative television audience measurement in the UK is conducted by BARB (the Broadcasters’ Audience Research Board). BARB recruits a panel of households across the UK whose viewing behaviour is monitored electronically via meters on television sets and devices. The panel is designed to be statistically representative of the UK population. Data is collected daily and reported the following day as overnight ratings, with consolidated figures (including catch-up viewing) reported later.

The figures BARB produces — reach and share — are the currency of television commissioning and advertising sales. A drama that achieves a high overnight rating justifies its production cost; a low share on a Friday night might indicate poor scheduling rather than poor content.

RAJAR, Pamco and Nielsen

RAJAR (Radio Joint Audience Research) performs the equivalent function for radio. Participants complete listening diaries over a set period recording what they listened to, when, and for how long. RAJAR data informs advertising rates and scheduling decisions across BBC and commercial radio.

Pamco (previously known as NRS) measures readership and reach for magazines and newspapers, while Nielsen provides global audience data including digital and streaming metrics. Together these bodies provide the quantitative evidence that underpins the entire commercial media economy.