• by Joe Mandese  @mp_joemandese, March 20, 2006

Radio giant Clear Channel Communications Monday morning said it would join CBS Radio, Cox Radio, and Radio One in a test in Houston of a potential radio audience measurement system utilizing next-generation cell phones, PDAs, and other portable devices as meters.

Clear Channel did not say whether the test was the resolution of an industry coalition it had been backing to evaluate requests for a new state-of-the-art, electronic radio audience measurement system--but the smart phone, developed by European research giant Ipsos and licensed in the U.S. by The Media Audit, was one of the finalists in that request for proposal, along with similar device developed by magazine researcher Mediamark Research Inc. and Arbitron's portable people meter.

On March 9, Clear Channel said the consortium would announce which of the finalists would move forward to a live test this spring, with an eye toward a rollout of a service this year.

Last week, Arbitron said it would begin rolling out its PPM system as the official radio ratings currency in Houston this summer, with other markets to follow. The Ipsos method utilizes a technology that can turn next-generation cell phones, PDAs, and other hand-held devices into portable meters capable of detecting radio broadcasting signals.