Nielsen Media Research Monday said it is in talks with Clear Channel’s electronic ratings committee about measuring radio listening which could pose a serious challenge to Arbitron.

The technology Nielsen could employ to measure radio would be its cell-phone-based “go meter� which the company has earmarked as a device for measuring out-of-home TV viewing.

Nielsen’s potential entry into radio could pose additional problems for Arbitron beyond challenging the radio ratings’ company’s core business. The two companies are currently partnering in Project Apollo, a national marketing service that combines Arbitron’s PPM with ACNielsen’s consumer scanner panels to provide advertisers with multimedia and product purchase data from a common sample of consumers. Project Apollo has six major advertisers participating in the pilot service.

(Media Week)