Wireless blow as Rajar case is unplugged

KELVIN MacKenzie, who regularly had his day in court as editor of The Sun, today saw his Wireless Group's attempt to sue Rajar for £66m struck out.

Wireless, which had accused the audience measurement group of understating its figures - particularly for its talkSPORT station - will now pick up both sides' legal costs, estimated at £700,000.

But MacKenzie saw today's setback as little more than a temporary blow. He expounded: 'Rajar may have won a legal skirmish but the war goes on until technology-based audience measurement is adopted.'

Wireless says Rajar's method - people filling in programme diaries - is outdated, compared with modern wristwatch style devices that monitor exactly what they are listening to. MacKenzie noted Rajar's commitment to bring in such audiometers by 2007 but threatened: 'We will make them stick to that timetable. If they fail to do so, I will have no hesitation in starting fresh legal action.'

He also pointed out that Mr Justice Lloyd had acknowledged the case in his judgment: 'It may be fair to say that each of the audiometers is much better than the diary system, but that does not help with the decision on which of the audiometers to adopt.'

MacKenzie said: 'Right now, the system means that advertisers pay for 2m listeners on talkSPORT, but get 6m in reality. It's a great deal - buy one, get two free.'