Radio One MD Vineet Singh Hukmani certainly doesn't mince his words and uses a razor-sharp thumbnail to paint a sketch that is as telling as it is brief, of the IRS Q4 findings and includes: how his own network has fared, why the city-based networks are growing stronger than the national brands, why the research agencies need to get their act together or miss the bus, and more. In his own words: 

94.3 Radio One is the only station to grow cumulative from q2 to q4 by 27 percent in 7 cities  all 12+..  In absolute-number terms we have added more listeners in this period than Radio Mirchi during the same period.... 

The radio industry has de-grown by 9 percent because large network players are stagnant or have de-grown due to increased city-based competition. Metro- and city-based players are growing.

This trend is partially due to better focus by the metro- / city-based players and increased brand recall effort by the same at a city level, versus the larger networks who tend to ride on network strength.

Radio is not a broadcast network medium like tv, but a city-focussed medium that requires special attention.

Essentially,  RAM is a flawed study due to small sample sizes and only four markets, and IRS at best is a recall study reflecting past data.... both of which are not geared to meet radio's actual national listener figures -- present and potential. However IRS is better poised to plug the gaps, if they go electronic.

The only true measure of radio potential is client-and brand faith, which is growing yoy in our 7 metro markets by over 28 percent, as they get the response they need. This is reflected in the revenue growth performance of every single radio station this year in our country.

As radio grows in Phase 3, these research agencies need to get their act together, or they will miss the bus. The bus being, the largest reach medium with the highest revenue growth rate being treated small only because the research agencies tend to treat it like a fringe medium....