It has revealed its new research contract will run for two years from January 2007 and brings in two new research suppliers to work alongside the incumbent, Ipsos Mori.
Ipsos Mori will continue to manage the diary research, but in a revamp listeners will note whether they are listening to analogue, DAB, digital TV or internet radio. Turnaround times will be reduced by up to two weeks.
Rajar has handed responsibility for sampling, weighting, processing, reporting and overall quality control to RSMB Audience Research, which is also a supplier to Barb. The survey has come under criticism for the volatility of its readings and Rajar expects to "relieve the issue".
Having originally promised to introduce electronic measurement by 2007, Rajar has decided it needs two years to test the audiometer technology and the consistency of audiometer data over time.
It has appointed TNS to set up an electronic survey panel using Arbitron's Portable People Meter audiometer.
TV audience measurement body Barb has joined with Rajar to fund the electronic measurement panel, which will consist of 500 adults within the M25. The data will be analysed separately and will not be integrated into the main survey.
Barb and Rajar stress they have different needs and are not working towards a joint radio and TV measurement currency. Bjarne Thelin, Barb chief executive, said: "This project provides Barb with an opportunity to generate a lot of learning."
Sally de la Bedoyere, Rajar managing director, and Jenny Abramsky, BBC radio and music director, greeted the contract as a major "step forward".
"[It] will ensure the continued provision of a robust and reliable radio audience survey. The Rajar board has made a clear and strategic decision in opting to introduce this two-year contract," De la Bedoyere said.
Other changes include a planned simplification of the radio map and an effort to address the difficulty of recruiting young men to the diary panel by trialling reporting via PDA. Ipsos Mori and TNS are involved in the PDA trial.
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