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COMMERCE BUSINESS DAILY ISSUE OF JULY 17,1998 PSA#2139U.S. Information Agency, International Broadcasting Bureau, Contracts
and Procurement Division, B/PA/AC, Room 2517, 330 C St, SW, Washington,
DC 20547 B -- AUDIENCE SURVEY IN BRAZIL SOL B/PA/98-27 DUE 080479 POC Lorraine
Mullen, (202) 260-2933 This public notice is also a written Request
for Quotation (RFQ) No. B/PA-98-27 pursuant to procurement of the
required services described below using the "Simplified Acquisition
Procedures" specified in Part 13 of the Federal Acquisition Regulation
(FAR). Price quotations submitted in response to this RFQ that exceed
the Simplified Acquisition Threshold (as specified in FAR Subpart
2.101, Definitions) will not be considered as responsive to this RFQ.
The U.S. Information Agency's International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB)
has a requirement, subject to the availability of funds, for a
contractor(s) to obtain data that will allow estimation and analysis of
the cumulative weekly audience for Voice of America (VOA) programming
re-broadcast by local radio stations in selected markets in Brazil.
Each week, VOA provides some 16 hours of Portuguese-language news and
programs to local radio stations via satellite and telephone lines. The
varied amounts and dispersion of program material local stations choose
to re-broadcast require a four-phase methodology to gather data on VOA
programming's cumulative reach. Quoters are herein requested to submit
written price quotations and technical capabilities/experience
information for the collection of data as outlined below. Scope of
Work: For each market, the contractor(s) shall obtain this data by
matching a precise record of re-broadcasts of VOA-produced news and
program material on any local stations during a specified week, with
data on individuals' listening by station and time during that week,
gathered from regular commercial research sources (where available) or
from custom diary-based panel studies. 1. Local Station Programming
Survey: The contractor(s) shall (using a brief questionnaire supplied
by the Contracting Officer) conduct a survey of programming directors
of all radio stations in each market to establish awareness and typical
patterns of use of news and program material produced by foreign
sources, including VOA, BBC, and CNN Radio (type of programming, times
and frequency of use, whether or not material is identified by
source). Based on the information gathered, the contractor(s) shall
compile a summary of stations and (15-minute) time blocks during which
specified foreign-produced material can be reasonably expected to air
over the course of the week for which radio listening studies are to
be conducted. This summary shall include all regularly scheduled times
foreign-produced programs air, as well as air times for program spaces
that might be expected to air foreign produced material (e.g.,
newscasts that make occasional use of foreign-prepared material). 2.
Collection of Detailed Radio Audience Estimates: a) Where such data is
commercially available, the contractor(s) shall arrange for the
purchase of ratings data for all local stations in each market.
Acceptable commercial ratings data must be based on a sample of
individuals (not households) in the target market and detail the radio
listening behavior of individual panel members in 15-minute intervals
over one full week or more, and must also include basic demographics
on respondents (age and sex, and where available, education and other
socio-economic classifications normally developed in the diary study);
or b) Where radio audience data matching the above specifications is
not regularly available from commercial sources, the contractor(s)
shall design and conduct a 7-day diary-based panel study of radio
listening with a sample of the adult population (15+) in the target
market (achieved sample of 1,000 -- individuals rather than
households). The contractor(s) shall be responsible for assuring that,
whether purchased commercially or gathered directly, the data are
delivered to the Contracting Officer in a form that will allow their
analysis with SPSS at the level of respondent and station-listening by
15-minute time blocks throughout the target week. 3. Monitoring of
Local Stations During Target Week: The contractor(s) shall compile for
each market a summary of the local stations and times (accurate to
least at the level of quarter hours) where VOA-produced material was
actually aired during the week for which data on radio listening is
purchased or collected. To gather such information, the contractor(s)
shall make audio recordings of the broadcasts of the local stations
expected to re-transmit VOA-produced material during the target week.
The recordings must cover all these stations' air time that might
reasonably be expected to include VOA-produced material, based on the
programmers' survey. The contractor(s) shall review the recording of
stations to determine when (by 15-minute block) each local station
transmitted VOA-produced material, organized by local station/15 minute
block. 4. Follow-up Questionnaire for Diary Panel Members: As part of
its own diary panel studies or in cooperation with the vendor of
commercial radio ratings data, the contractor(s) shall administer a
brief questionnaire, supplied by the Contracting Officer, to panel
study participants regarding their awareness and recall of listening to
foreign radio programming and to supplement basic demographics not
collected in the commercial ratings study. Quoters may submit
quotations for this project on any or all of the following markets or
sets of markets: 1. S o Paulo 2. Rio de Janeiro 3. Porto Alegre 4.
Brasilia Responsibilities of IBB: IBB will provide the contractor(s)
with: -- Information from VOA on the programs it delivers to the target
markets (names, times, descriptions) and on the use of that programming
by local stations in the target markets; -- A brief questionnaire to
use in surveying local programming directors as to their use of
foreign-produced program material; -- A brief follow-up questionnaire
for panel participants in the radio listening studies; -- A detailed
log and description of VOA programming that was actually available to
local stations during the 7-day periods studied in each market, to aid
the contractor in accurately identifying such material monitored on
recordings of local stations. Contractor(s) Responsibilities: The
contractor(s) shall be responsible for the following deliverables for
each target market: -- A comprehensive research plan for each target
market, to be reviewed and approved by IBB, including instruments and
methodology used in custom diary panels and in recording and review of
monitored local station broadcasts. -- A station-by-station summary of
the results of the programming directors survey describing the typical
patterns of re-broadcast of specified foreign-produced material. -- A
concrete plan for monitoring local broadcasts to confirm precise
airing of VOA-produced material, based on reasonably-expected usage
patterns as revealed by the survey of programming directors, such plan
is subject to approval by IBB. -- Cassette copies of all audio tapes
made in the monitoring of local stations, labeled by station and
day/time period contained on the tape. -- A station-by-quarter hour
block summary of the VOA-produced material actually monitored on local
stationsduring the test week. -- A digital copy of the ratings data
purchased or collected, preferably in SPSS format, or at a minimum in
plain ASCII format with a codebook identifying variables and
corresponding column locations; the data shall include one record for
each respondent in the diary panel, with listening data for each
station by quarter-hour block, as well as demographic variables and,
for each respondent, data from the companion questionnaire. Delivery
Schedule: After approval by IBB of the comprehensive media plan for a
given market (including agreed-upon start date), the four phases of the
research project should be completed within a four-week period, with
data and reports ready for analysis delivered to the Contracting
Officer in a further four weeks. Where commercial data on radio
listening is to be used, the contractor shall schedule the other phases
around the research period planned by the vendor of the commercial
radio audience data. Selection Criteria: A contract (i.e., Purchase
Order)award will be made by the Contracting Officer based on A) the
quoter's Technical Capabilities/Experience for which there are four (4)
equally weighted subcriteria); and B) the quoter's Price quotation. Of
the two Selection Criteria, Technical Capabilities/Experience is the
significantly dominant criterion over the Price criterion. The
Technical Capabilities/Experience subcriteria are as follows: 1.
Demonstrated experience in conducting audience research in the target
markets or Latin America generally, with particular experience in the
design and successful conduct of panel studies of radio or television
usage based on completion of personal diaries. 2. The degree to which
the proposed research plan satisfies IBB's requirements for reliable,
detailed data on individual radio use, demographic and follow-up
awareness/recall data, as demonstrated in the information provided on
the commercial data to be used or on the planned methodology for
conducting a custom diary-based panel study in the target market(s)
(while sampling only "ABC" socio-economic strata may be the most
feasible standard practice for audience research in a given market,
comprehensiveness of proposed sample coverage across socio-economic
strata will weigh in favor of a quoter's quotation). 3.
Comprehensiveness of coverage of the target markets or sets of markets,
assuring comparable methodology and field supervision in audience
measurement and radio monitoring across as many of the proposed target
markets as possible. 4. Ability to complete the project in a timely
manner by complying with the Delivery Schedule above. Each response to
this RFQ shall also include: -- Current information on the
qualification of quoter's office and field staff. -- Specific
information on quoter's past experience in conducting audience
research, especially diary-based panel studies, in the target markets
and Latin America generally. -- A plan of work for each target market
for which the quoter is submitting a price quotation, addressing each
of the four research phases set out above in items 1-4, describing the
commercial data planned for purchase (sample type, size and coverage,
methodology, periods of availability) and/or the methodology planned
for custom diary panel research (sampling, recruitment, distribution,
compliance and quality assurance) and how the data to be purchased or
collected satisfies IBB's requirements; in addition to the specified
1,000-person custom diary panel, quoters may propose options for
samples of less than 1,000, but in no case less than 500. -- Separate
price quotations for each market or set of markets on which quoter is
submitting a price quotation. Submission of Responses to the RFQ and
Due Date: Firms interested in the above described work are requested to
submit their responses to this RFQ by 5:00 p.m. EST, Tuesday, August 4,
1998 and shall reference this RFQ No. B/PA-98-27 in their transmittal
letter to the Contracting Officer. All questions (technical or
otherwise) by a prospective quoter regarding this RFQ shall be in
writing. Any questions and the quoter's complete written response to
this RFQ shall be sent directly and only to the Contracting Officer for
the procurement, Lorraine Mullen, via facsimile at (202) 205-1921. The
Price quotation submitted as part of a quoter's response to this RFQ
shall be on a separate page from the above requested Technical
Capabilities/Experience and Schedule information. The Contracting
Officer has found and determined that this proposed work is appropriate
for an "unrestricted" procurement pursuant to FAR Subpart 19.502
(Setting Aside Acquisitions). All responsible sources may submit a
quotation which will be considered. Posted 07/15/98 (W-SN223380).
(0196) Loren Data Corp. http://www.ld.com (SYN# 0019 19980717\B-0006.SOL)
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