comScore yesterday announced that it is purchasing fellow consumer audience measurement firm Rentrak in a deal that brings together companies "at the forefront of quantifying what people do online," according to Mike Rogoway of the Portland OREGONIAN. The deal for Portland-based Rentrak "gives comScore's shareholders two-thirds of the combined company, which will take comScore's name, retain that company's headquarters in Virginia and put comScore President & CEO Serge Matta in charge," with Rentrak Vice Chair & CEO Bill Livek becoming President. The deal "positions the combined company to compete with Nielsen, which dominates the market for TV ratings but has struggled to keep up with the shift to online viewership." Rentrak had revenue of $103M last year, up $76M from the prior year. It is "roughly a third the size of comScore, and its 419 employees are also about one-third of comScore's total." The combined entity would be "collectively valued" at $2.3B. Livek said, "The consumer is watching more TV, more ad-supported TV, than ever before. It just hasn't been measured properly" (Portland OREGONIAN, 9/30). In N.Y., Emily Steel writes the two companies have been "seeking to challenge the longtime industry leader Nielsen in tracking how people consume media in an era of rapid change." They "are seeking to create an industry force that will provide a stronger competitor to Nielsen by measuring how people consume media across a proliferation of screens -- mobile, desktop, television and more" (N.Y. TIMES, 9/30). At presstime, shares of Rentrak were trading at $52.03, up 19.9% from the close of business yesterday, while shares of comScore were trading at $45.23, up 9.07% (THE DAILY).
YOU DOWN WITH WPP? The FINANCIAL TIMES' Shannon Bond notes WPP "took stakes" in both comScore and Rentrak in the past year, and the world’s largest ad group by sales "has been using both companies’ data to evaluate advertising campaigns." WPP will hold a 16% stake in the combined group, "which it can expand" up to 19.9%. Nielsen "has been the target of criticism, most vocally from Viacom, ... which says the measurement company’s ratings do not capture its brands’ full digital reach and therefore potentially undervalue its advertising inventory." Another voice "calling for better measurement of viewing everywhere" has been WPP Founder & CEO Martin Sorrell. Nielsen has pointed to WPP’s backing of comScore and Rentrak "as a potential conflict, highlighting its own independence as a measurement provider" (FINANCIAL TIMES, 9/30). Nielsen execs on Monday during a presentation said that the company "intended to have a measurement system in place to count viewers across linear and digital venues" by the end of '15 (VARIETY.com, 9/29).
