• by Erik Sass , July 15, 2009

The magazine business may get a much-needed shot in the arm from the announcement that Mediamark Research & Intelligence will start delivering its issue-specific magazine ratings anywhere from two to six weeks earlier, depending on the publishing schedule of the magazine.

In a media marketplace which values speed in measuring and managing ad campaigns, this could boost magazines' ability to compete with online media, which has led the way in (rapid) measurability.

According to MRI, issue-specific audience data for weekly magazines will now be available six weeks after publication, two weeks earlier than previously. Likewise, audience data for biweeklies will be reported within eight weeks, down from 10; monthlies will be available within nine weeks, down from 12; and bimonthlies will be available within 12 weeks, down from 18.

MRI's issue-specific audience data are based on weekly online surveys conducted with 5,000 American adults, allowing MRI to track how long it takes for a particular issue to accumulate its full audience.

Advertisers can use the issue-specific data to calculate reach with regard to various demographic targets. The data also allows publishers and media planners to compare different issues of the same magazine to determine, for example, whether some cover art or headlines work better than others.

Accelerated reporting for issue-specific data is just one of a series of improvements undertaken by MRI at the behest of the magazine industry as it competes with new media, which enjoys a reputation for being highly measurable. In June MRI launched new ad effectiveness ratings, giving precise measures for individual ads showing audience exposure and subsequent actions.

Much of the ad effectiveness data comes from MRI Starch (formerly GfK Starch), a division of MRI, which surveys readers to determine how magazine ads affect brand perception, recall and purchase behavior, among other things.

MRI bought GfK Starch in July 2008 amid increasing demand for more pinpointed data on magazine readership from publishers and advertisers. Perhaps not coincidentally, the acquisition (and the rollout of MRI's issue-specific readership study) debuted when the Magazine Publishers of America issued a call for proposals for a new magazine ratings system.

At the time, some industry observers said the MPA was issuing a challenge to MRI, the dominant magazine measurement firm, to force it to expand its research offerings.