Clear Channel Radio, Arbitron Settle

After months of tense negotiations, Arbitron Inc., the research company that provides the ratings on which most U.S. radio-advertising rates are based, said it will provide radio ratings through 2004 to Clear Channel Radio, the nation’s most powerful radio company and a unit of Clear Channel Communications Inc.

The companies didn’t disclose terms of the deal. As part of the agreement, Arbitron (ARB) said that beginning in 2002, the company will offer individual radio companies greater flexibility in how their own advertising markets are defined, a change that industry watchers said could significantly increase revenue potential for some station groups.