Open Access
About NRS
How it Works
Contract and Funding
On behalf of its subscribers, NRS Ltd commissions specialist research companies to collect and process the required data. A contract is periodically put out to tender, and interested companies are able to submit competitive bids. The current contract was awarded in January 2002 for a minimum of 4 years to Ipsos MORI, which has a long history of running the Survey.
The funds needed by NRS Ltd to operate and to pay for the research are provided by the three industry associations whose members are involved in buying and selling national press advertising space. Their annual contribution to the cost of the NRS is as follows:
| Institute of Practitioners in Advertising (IPA) | 12% |
| Newspaper Publishers Association (NPA) | 44% |
| Periodical Publishers Association (PPA) | 44% |
| 100% |
Individual members of the IPA, NPA and PPA each pay an annual subscription to their relevant association, in return for which they gain access to NRS data. Each association then makes its contribution to the funds needed by the NRS to run the survey. In addition to these funds, the NRS generates about 10% of its income from the sale of data to organisations who are not members of these bodies.
The overall cost of the NRS operation is currently some £4 million per year.