MacKenzie goes back to war with Rajar over TalkSPORT audience

LONDON - Kelvin MacKenzie has returned to the offensive in his radio audience measurement argument with Rajar, following the setback he suffered this week in his attempt to take over The Wireless Group.

MacKenzie wants Rajar to release figures from tests it conducted over 2002-2003 with audiometers, which he claims give TWG station TalkSPORT a larger reach figure than that recorded by the current diary system.

TWG claims that the tests showed that the GfK audiometer gave TalkSPORT a weekly reach of 14% and the Arbitron audiometer gave it 17%, whereas the diary system gives it 5%.

MacKenzie, the chairman and chief executive of TWG, said: "I challenge Rajar to deny these figures. This, after all, is what the whole argument is about... and these figures are theirs not ours."

MacKenzie is currently attempting to secure greater control over TWG's strategy by teaming up with a private equity backer to buy out shareholders. However, his initial backer Veronis Suhler Stevenson pulled out this week, reportedly due to differences of opinion over management incentives. MacKenzie owns 6% of TWG.

Last year, MacKenzie brought a lawsuit against Rajar for abuse of competition laws for not introducing an audiometer system. It was struck out by the judge, who said that the allegations TWG made about Rajar's decision to delay the introduction of audiometers did not correspond with the facts.

After the case was struck out, MacKenzie said: "Rajar may have won a legal skirmish, but the war goes on until technology-based audience measurement is adopted."

Rajar is proceeding with a new round of audiometer testing and is aiming to introduce an audiometer-based system by 2007. It recently eliminated GfK/Telecontrol's MediaWatch from testing but Arbitron's PPM and Eurisko's Media Monitor remain in the running.

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