Rajar puts ex-newspaper boss at helm
Radio audience measurement body Rajar has appointed former Evening Standard managing director Sally de la Bedoyere as managing director. She takes up the job in January, replacing Jane O’Hara, who is leaving at the end of December after three years in the post.
Rajar is facing the possibility of a High Court battle against The Wireless Group over its refusal to adopt electronic audience measurement. The two sides are meeting on December 18 for a last-ditch attempt to resolve their differences out of court.
Wireless Group chief executive and chairman Kelvin MacKenzie believes the current diary method under-reports TalkSport’s audience, the radio station owned by The Wireless Group. He claims this loses the group about &£1.5m per month. Rajar decided against adopting electronic measurement in July after it said its trials had cast doubt over the accuracy of both the electronic watch system and a pager system (MW July 3).
De la Bedoyere has spent the majority of her career in the newspaper and publishing industry. She joined the Evening Standard in 2000 from The Mail on Sunday, where she was sales and marketing controller and ad director. She left the Evening Standard in 2002 (MW September 12, 2002) and has since been working as a media consultant.
