In a statement, The Wireless Group, owner of TalkSPORT, claimed that it might also take legal action against Rajar's shareholders -- the BBC and the Commercial Radio Companies Association.
MacKenzie, who is chairman and chief executive of The Wireless Group, has long maintained that Rajar's diary system of measuring radio audiences is inaccurate and accounts for a loss of TalkSPORT revenues of approximately £1.5m a month, compared with what it would earn if an accurate electronic watch system were used.
In a statement, Rajar said it was confident that the claim that its tests of the Arbitron and Radiocontrol electronic measurement systems are "fatally flawed" is without merit.
Rajar managing director Sally de la Bedoyere said that it would contest the proceedings vigorously and rebutted claims made by MacKenzie.
"Leading counsel advise that it is highly likely that claims will be struck out before it comes to trial," she said. "It is not surprising that the ludicrous claims relating to financial losses are for the purposes of a sensational press release and are not detailed in the proceedings."
The Wireless Group maintains that if damages were claimed from August 2000, when it first requested that Rajar introduce electronic measurement, then it would amount to more than £66m together with interest up to judgment, which is expected to be in March next year.
Legal costs for both sides of the court case could be up to £1.5m.
Rajar introduced tests of two types of electronic meter system but decided against using either because of concerns about consistency in results. It has extended its existing research contract for the diary system to December 2005.
In the latest war of words, MacKenzie said: "Incredibly I have spent more than three years of my life trying to persuade the radio industry that the diary, pencil and short-term memory should be replaced by a technology that measures radio audiences more accurately. My opponents have tried desperately to kick the issue into the long grass because they are making a hell of a lot of money out of this fraudulent system."
De la Bedoyere countered, saying that the claim by The Wireless Group about electronic measurement adopted abroad was untrue. She said: "The UK remains the only country to have tested both. The one country using Radiocontrol watches is Switzerland, which has a relatively small radio industry and is where the watch was invented."
In January this year, MacKenzie issued a scathing attack on De la Bedoyere, saying that she would "have to do better that this if she will not soon be taking a rather long boat trip around the world like her predecessor".
MacKenzie was referring to Jane O'Hara who exited the company in November last year amid conflict with The Wireless Group.
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