online newspapers and magazines. Thus the user may be consuming three or more media alternatives at the same time. Media research companies, which historically specialised in a single media such as radio or TV, were poorly equipped to respond to the challenge of simultaneous consumption across multiple platforms. However, media research is slowly devising methods designed to capture simultaneous media consumption habits. The timing of audience reports is a major issue for both the networks and advertisers. Data collected by people-meters is available on the morning after programs have aired. However, data collected by diary methods requires much more time to collate and analyse. Radio surveys, for example, which are still used for radio ratings in many countries, are normally only available on a quarterly basis. The time lag in reporting fails to provide advertisers with sufficient lead times to take corrective action during a campaign. Other questions have been raised about diary-based data collection methods. The expectation that diarists participating in the radio sample will accurately record their listening at 15-minute intervals has been challenged by many analysts. Many analysts suspect that diarists only fill in their diaries at the end of each week, or perhaps less often which forces them to recall their radio usage thereby raising concerns about reliability. In addition the diary based method appears to inflate average audience size, because the total audience is captured by recording any person who was listening during a quarter-hour counts as listening for the entire duration, even if the actual time was just for a minute or two. The process of surveying listeners for their preferences has also been criticised for its lack of flexibility. Listeners complain that modern radio lacks variety and depth but the measurement methods only facilitate further refinement of already minutely programmed formats rather than the overhaul that many listeners are asking for. Radio in the US, is where listeners hear their old favorites rather than are exposed to new music. Data obtained by some audience measurement methods is detailed to individual songs and how they are reacted to by each age, racial, and economic group the station is seeking to attract. This statistical approach leads to highly recognizable songs (such as those from the Beatles) which score well with a cross-section of listeners. Measurement conferences The world's largest audience measurement conference, AM X.0, is presented annually by the Advertising Research Foundation. Each year, hundreds