You might even say that he has declared war on the rest of the radio industry. Come June, thanks to MacKenzie, we will have two sets of completely incompatible national listening figures. Who will media buyers trust, and, more to the point, on what basis will they buy?
MacKenzie is, of course, operating from self-interest. He doesn't like his ratings and would like some different ones. Less familiar, less mainstream stations seem to do better with electronic metering, at least in terms of reach, if not time. MacKenzie's lack of patience could produce something really damaging for the radio industry - the undermining of an agreed currency for purchasing radio.
On the surface, Rajar's response to the MacKenzie assault seems inadequate.
On the one hand, Rajar is forced to defend the accuracy of the paper diaries because to do anything else would be to compromise hopelessly the existing system. On the other hand, it promises that it is pushing ahead as quickly as possible with the testing of the two main electronic systems to see whether they really are more accurate than diaries. There are also the issues of cost and how much electronic radio testing the radio industry can afford.
The priority of Lord Gordon, the Rajar chairman, is to keep the industry together and move forward on an agreed basis. He will have his hands full with MacKenzie, who rather threateningly warns he will remain a member of Rajar "for the foreseeable future", but not forever.
The reality is that Lord Gordon cannot allow himself to be bounced instantly into a divisive electronic metering system by a single Rajar member with an axe to grind. Is Arbitron's People Meter, for instance, a better system than the Swiss-developed wristwatch?
We will not find this out from MacKenzie, who has commissioned market research group GfK to produce his figures. And GfK just happens to own the company that is responsible for the wristwatch system.
Rajar will now have an uncomfortable two years because it must stick to its timetable of research, verification and need for industry agreement.
It is hard to see how it could introduce any electronic testing before 2005. Until then, everyone will be transfixed by MacKenzie's monthly figures, and the pressure to move to electronic radio measurement is likely to grow.
We should thank MacKenzie for livening up a rather moribund radio sector suffering from partial paralysis. Shares have been gently sliding in the absence of any real sign of an upturn in radio advertising, even though 2002 revenues did manage a 2.5 per cent rise to a respectable £562.8m total. Even more debilitating is the planning blight caused by the Communications Bill, which will surely continue until the autumn. At least MacKenzie has done what he does best - created some headlines.
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