MEDIA: PERSPECTIVE - Commercial radio looks well enough as it hits 30th year.

I'm only guessing, but having an irate Kelvin MacKenzie breathing cold fury down your neck can't be pleasant.

Much of The Wireless Group chief executive's bile of late has been aimed at the radio measurement body, Rajar. It might be a coincidence, but its managing director, Jane O'Hara, is quitting in December to go off sailing in the Atlantic.

However, the antipathy doesn't seem personal and O'Hara's explanation, that she is leaving in good time to allow a successor to conduct the next series of tests on electronic measurement systems and to allow them to get their feet under the table before the Rajar contract goes out to tender, rings true.

It's easy to understand MacKenzie's frustration but a local spat about audience figures shouldn't be allowed to spoil commercial radio's 30th anniversary.

Baleful, and premature, stories about Capital's demise have given the impression recently that commercial radio is on its knees. True enough, Capital expects revenues to be down 4 per cent for the 12 months to 30 September and its rival GWR has warned the City that revenues for Classic FM have dipped 10 per cent.

But there are reasons for optimism for commercial radio. Chrysalis' investment in LBC and Heart in London have been noteworthy, offering advertisers a serious alternative to the likes of Capital. Emap's capture of the West Midlands licence with its ...