As Internet search firms continue to weaken the terrestrial radio industry’s once-firm grip on local advertising, radio made sure Thursday that the three vendors still in the running to establish the industry’s new audience measurement system understand what is at stake.

In an unusual announcement, the 24-member evaluation team monitoring the selection process reminded the three companies—MediaAudit/Ipsos, Arbitron, and MediaMark Research—of the team’s requirements.

The team told the three firms, which survived a vetting process that began last year and included two dozen bidders, to include details on devices, accountability, cost, and timely reporting.

“We are fully committed to electronic measurement and encouraged by the proposals we’ve seen, but we are not willing to settle for an inferior solution,” said Jess Hanson, who heads the evaluation team and is senior vice president of research for Clear Channel Radio.

“The ball is now in these vendors’ courts to produce an accurate system that can roll out quickly across major markets and be affordable to advertisers, agencies, and broadcasters,” he added.

New Ad Demands

The team includes a cross section of companies with reasons for concern about the competitiveness of radio advertising, the primary consumers of radio audience measurement data.

They are ABC, Bonneville, CBS Radio, Clear Channel Radio, Cox Radio, Cumulus, Emmis, Entercom, Entravision, Greater Media, Journal, Radio One, Regent, and Susquehanna.

The team also comprises media buyers such as CIA Media:Edge, Initiative, Mediacom, and MPG. In addition, it includes an advertiser, Ford Motor Company.

The radio industry has witnessed the exodus of young people, one of its core demographics, to alternative digital media such as MP3 players, satellite radio, and music-enabled cell phones.

Flat Market

The radio industry has experienced trouble attracting and keeping advertisers, in part because many consider its 40-year-old method of counting listeners and maintaining ratings to be outdated and unreliable.

According to BIA Financial Network, the radio industry generated $18.2 billion in advertising revenue in 2005, a sum almost identical to its 2004 revenue and just a shade below BIAfn’s 2006 growth projections of 2.2 percent.

“The diary method of counting audiences is past its prime, and there needs to be greater accountability in the business of radio ratings,” said Mark Fratrick, vice president of BIAfn. “The actual ratings numbers for April will be available in July.”

That delay seems even longer considering the web’s immediacy and accuracy in measuring advertising performance. That in part explains the urgency of the radio industry to change its ratings system, and explains its unusual announcement.