Media audience research is significant for as well advertisers (choosing of the best communication supports and moments), media (knowing the tracking and determining negotiation strategies with advertisers) as communication agencies (advising clients as regards communication strategies and dissemination of messages towards targets).  
DR Congo Polling organizations regularly publish results of media researches or surveys and the problem most commonly arises in connexion with reliability and credibility of results, when particularly these results seems to be either contradictory (two surveys published at the same period with different results), or monotonous (always the same results/rankings among some organizations). It is needed to put this sector in order for successfully promoting development of advertising markets in DR Congo with audience researches as major criterion of advertisers and pricing choice. Consistent with political surveys, we are supposed to get to similar results for surveys carried out at the same period provided that each survey organization uses internationally recognized standards.
Almost every media researches or surveys published in DR Congo are using media habits since respondents are asked to answer what are TV channels/radio stations and broadcasts they are often following. Results of such researches and surveys show general viewers/listeners’ behavior towards different channels and broadcasts but don’t give clear indicators relating to daily viewers and listeners’ behavior. For example it is difficult for an advertiser to know which day of the week is the right one to broadcast messages. Whether it should be better to make daily advertisement on one specific channel or make advertisement on specific days and moments in line with audience of competing channels. With media researches and surveys based on behaviors, TV Channel/Radio Station does not control the way their viewers/listeners react at different daily moments neither do they control impact of broadcasting a morning programme on the week end on a weekly basis. For the time being, media audience researches in the world are essentially based on audience “day after recall”: a sample of respondents is surveyed on a daily basis regarding programmes followed the day before and audience curves are established for each TV channel every fifteen minutes, and this is to be done on a daily basis every week.
*Example of survey results for audience “day after recall” (a Monday from Noon to midnight)

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The Firm TARGET Research & Consulting has been involved in March 2012 into a media audience survey carried out at Kinshasa with the French Organization IMMAR in the framework of project FEI (France Expertise Internationale) regarding Congolese media economic viability. Results of that survey carried out in line with method of audience “day after recall” with a daily sample of 300 respondents will be shortly submitted to different project stakeholders (donors, public authorities, advertisers, media, communication agencies…); We are aiming at making all realize that it is critical to have reliable and modern audience measurement tools in DR Congo, in compliance with international standards.
There exists at African scale standards to be used for carrying out surveys of audience “day after recall” published by the Pan-African Organization for promotion of audience surveys “PAMRO” (www.pamro.org) and TARGET has drawn inspiration from these standards to provide Congolese  advertisers with a modern audience measurement tool based on a pool of 500 respondents. Each advertiser desiring to use it shall have the possibility of ordering, for his/her specific communication needs, a media survey that could allow having not only a detailed and clear view of media daily audience, but also having a database of results by sub-sectors or sub-groups (for example men of 20 to 29 years old, women of 40 to 49 years old…).
*Example of compared evolution of audience between men and women of 20 to 29 years old

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Informed observers shall note that audience surveys according to audience “day after recall” require and entail mobilizing substantial resources, and for this purpose, are more expensive for advertisers as regards surveys based on behaviors. For the Managing Director of TARGET Serge MUMBU, it should primarily be a matter for Marketing Decision Maker to choose between efficiency and economy. Therefore it is relevant to take every precaution to avoid waste of advertising resources with media planning designed based on generalities. According to him, “advertisers having expensive communication budgets and that are required all the time to be present at media space, especially due to significant competition in their sector (telecommunication, breweries, banks…), should make the right choice as regards communication supports and moments to comply with days of broadcasting. Advertisers that have already used data from one of survey of audience “day after recall” recognized that it is presently the best media audience measurement tool and this allows them to correct numbers of mistakes, for example communicating with the Channel ranked No 1 in an audience survey on behaviors at a specific time of the day where its audience is weak”.