B -- BBG INTERNATIONAL AUDIENCE RESEARCH PROGRAM (IARP) CORE RESEARCH AND ASSOCIATED SUPPORT CONSOLIDATED ACQUISITION

Notice Date

May 15, 2001

Contracting Office

Broadcasting Board of Governors, International Broadcasting Bureau, Office of Contracts (CON), 330 C Street, SW, Room 2500, Washington, DC 20237

ZIP Code

20237

Solicitation Number

BBGCON-0201-S5217

Point of Contact

Mr. Brent Peavler, M/CON/CR, Telephone: (202) 619-3445, Facsimile: (202) 260-0855, E-Mail Address: bpeavler@ibb.gov

E-Mail Address

Click here to contact the contracting officer via (bpeavler@ibb.gov)

Description

The U.S. Broadcasting Board of Governors (BBG), as part of its International Audience Research Program (IARP), has a requirement for a contractor to perform, analyze, and/or acquire current and accurate international broadcast audience research on an annual basis in the form of quantitative, qualitative, evaluative, and/or other broadcasting core research studies for the BBG's International Broadcasting Bureau (IBB) and Office of Cuba Broadcasting (OCB), and its Grantees' Radio Free Europe/RadioLiberty (RFE/RL) and Radio Free Asia (RFA). These broadcasters are collectively referred to as the BBG's broadcasting "Entities". This proposed audience research work includes most of the BBG's worldwide listening audience target areas broadcasted to by the Entities' fifty-nine (59) language services. The contractor shall perform, provide, and/or acquire varying combinations of quantitative, qualitative, and evaluative research for each of the BBG Entities' language services as specified in a forthcoming Statement of Work (SOW) document for this proposed contract. For the purpose of this procurement, quantitative research includes national, selected city, traveler, and elite surveys, and it may also include purchasing or otherwise acquiring commercially available data from particular media markets. Qualitative research includes focus groups and in-depth interviews. Evaluative research includes listener monitoring panels and controlled expert listener projects. Special consulting and/or supporting work will be performed by the contractor as related to the above studies and/or projects (i.e., analyses, interpretations, briefings, reports, etc.). The contractor shall submit periodic reports and make periodic presentations of its research efforts, findings, and recommendations to the BBG and the Entities on a predefined schedule. The contract instrument, as currently envisioned by the BBG, will be of a "hybrid" nature consisting predominantly of a set of definitive "core quantitative/qualitative research studies" and supporting analytical and other work, plus a relatively smaller component of individual "task-order" assignments for the contractor to perform "ad-hoc" tasks within specified generalized scope, performance, and pricing parameters. The BBG's preparation to date of the SOW and the solicitation document (i.e., Request for Proposal) includes the proposed set of core quantitative/qualitative research studies to be priced on a firm-fixed-price (FFP) basis. The core work also includes "other" supporting tasks such as Website data maintenance, and preparation/presentation of periodic reports and briefings. The "ad-hoc" component of the total work effort, as currently envisioned at this time by the BBG and the Entities, includes non-scheduled, short-term audience research studies, modifications to ongoing scheduled core research studies, and/or supporting tasks that the BBG plans to award as individual or groups of tasks, based on negotiated contractor personnel skill requirements and rates, and the contractor's estimated durations for its performance of such "ad-hoc" tasks. The BBG anticipates awarding a single "hybrid" Firm-Fixed-Price with Award Fee (FPAF) type of contract, subject to Congressional authorization and annual appropriation of funds for this purpose, by not later than September 30, 2001 -- with a Notice-To-Proceed (NTP) being issued no sooner than October 1, 2001 -- and with the first Deliverables (i.e., core studies), to be provided by the contractor in accordance with the delivery schedule contained in the SOW. The contract term is planned for a two-year Base-Period, with three one-year Option periods. Initial contract funding will be for one year of FY-2002 BBG Operating Funds for the performance of the SOW, plus an estimated amount of contract termination funds as required by statute in the event that follow-on FY-2003 BBG Operating Funds were not authorized and/or appropriated. The BBG intends to award a single contract resulting from the forthcoming RFP to the responsive and responsible offeror (which may be a single prime contractor with or without subcontractors, or a joint venture or partnership with or without subcontractors, or some other form of special business relationship that is specifically structured by the offering parties for this contract) whose offer, conforming to the RFP, is determined by the BBG to be the best overall value to the Government, considering (but not limited to) such Evaluation Factors as: a) the offerors' verifiable performance of the above-stated types of international research work within the past five (5) calendar years; b) verifiable technical/analytical/statistical capabilities; c) responsiveness to and flexibility with the BBG and the Entities; d) capability to perform the core research studies and other work in a timely manner; e) verifiable cost-saving results on previous similar work; f) capability to achieve an Award Fee minimal level of "satisfactory" performance; and g) component prices and total price. It is presently planned that the "technical and business" criteria will be weighted higher than the "price" criterion during the BBG's evaluation of all offers received in response to the forthcoming RFP document. All requests for copies of the forthcoming solicitation document (RFP) shall include the solicitation number, company name, postal mailing address, electronic mailing address, telephone and facsimile numbers, and name/title of the offeror's contact person. It is anticipated that the RFP document will be issued during June 2001. Proposals will be due six (6) weeks after the BBG's issuance of the RFP document. No telephone requests for the RFP solicitation document will be honored. The BBG's Contracting Officer (CO) has determined that this procurement is appropriate for solicitation as an unrestricted procurement. All responsible sources may submit a proposal in response to the RFP, and all such responsive proposals will be considered by the Government. Any questions (technical or otherwise) related to this proposed procurement shall be in writing and sent directly and only to the Contracting Officer, Mr. Brent Peavler, at the above-stated postal or E-mail address. This public notice is not an IFB, RFQ, or RFP.

Record

Loren Data Corp. 20010517/BSOL008.HTM (W-135 SN50M1V0)