Throughout most of the 1970s, the two major competing syndicated services measuring consumer magazine audiences utilized different methodologies in gathering magazine audience measurements and released somewhat differing figures. A study was conducted to explore the historical developments of W.R. Simmons and Associates Research, Inc. (Simmons), and Target Group Index (TGI) of the Axiom Market Research Bureau, from 1972 to their consolidation in 1979. Developments in these two services were analyzed using brief textbook synopses and trade press coverage of the events. Advertiser and media planner reactions to these events were also examined. The results indicated that, while the advertising industry was at first wary of TGI in 1972, the inconsistencies between its l973 data and those of Simmons started an outcry for improved measurement methods that peaked in 1975. Pressure for a basic study of methodologies mounted following the release of Simmons's 1974-75 data, after the company had suspended its fieldwork the previous year due to legal costs. The 1979 merger of the two services was based on financial concerns rather than industry pressure. Differences are still evident between the figures produced by the two services, although the outcry has quieted, presumably because the industry acknowledges that more than one way to measure audiences exists. (HTH)