Audience measurement organisations
The measurement of audiences is not particularly developed in Venezuela, especially after the disappearance of many of the companies in the business in the last years given the increasing weakness of the advertising and the information sector. The lack of public statistics and transparency culture have not helped this activity. There are no official or open statistics for the public, beside some academic or international studies that do not usually measure the audience of the different media. The reports of NGOs tend to focus more on the lack of freedom or in the closing of media rather than on the volume of audiences. This lack of information is currently one of the main problems of the sector in Venezuela.
There are, however, private companies that offer results under payment. The main worldwide group in this topic, Nielsen, is present in Venezuela. It is the biggest company carrying out these activities in the country, together with the equally worldwide present Comscore, more focused on digital media. We must also mention Statmark, a Venezuelan market research and audience measurement company that ceased its activities at the end of 2017. Additionally to these ones, the Asociación Nacional de Anunciantes (National Advertisers Association - ANDA), together with the Federación Venezolana de Agencias de Publicidad (Venezuelan Federation of Advertising Agencies - FEVAP), constituted a committee to check the audience and circulation figures of Venezuelan media.
Although not purely an audience measurement organisation, Hinterlaces, the first intelligence agency in Venezuela that has been accused of supporting the government, does relevant work as it studies public opinion and elaborates market researches, including analysis about media. Other important market research companies in Venezuela are Datanálisis and Consultores 21, with similar activities but a smaller interest in media than Hinterlaces, and Tendencias Digitales, with a stronger focus in market research and analysis in digital media.