New Venture to Offer Service With Broader Coverage

30 October 2001
Mumbai

ACNielsen, a VNU company, and Kantar Media Research (KMR) and Indian Market Research Bureau (IMRB), both part of Kantar, WPP's worldwide information and consultancy business, said today that they have agreed to form a new joint venture that will offer the most comprehensive measurement of TV audiences and advertising expenditures in India. The transaction is expected to close by the end of this year.

The new venture plans to combine local TV ratings data from TAM Media Research, a 50-50 joint venture between ACNielsen and KMR/IMRB, with data from ORG-MARG, a VNU company, in a single service across India. The combined TV ratings service will be one of the world's largest to use advanced people meter technology.

Company officials said a combined service will benefit all clients - broadcasters, agencies and advertisers - because it will provide significant additional coverage of the Indian television market. Coverage will be expanded to all major states in India (15 states versus the current coverage of nine) and virtually all major metropolitan areas, under a plan that will be presented to the industry.

The new joint venture will also be the leading provider of advertising expenditure information in India, covering more than 90% of the country's TV and press advertising spending.

India is one of 24 major television markets monitored by ACNielsen Media International, the leader in international media measurement and analysis. Together with Nielsen Media Research, which measures television audiences in the United States, the two companies offer the most extensive coverage of the global TV economy.

In addition to television audience measurement, ACNielsen Media International offers advertising information services, radio audience measurement, print readership services, and customized media research.

ACNielsen Media International and Nielsen Media Research are part of VNU Media Measurement & Information, the global leader in must-have information for the media and entertainment industries. Active in more than 40 major markets worldwide, and powered by leading-edge technology and specialized expertise, the group serves the information and marketing needs of television and radio broadcasters, advertisers, ad agencies, media planners, music companies, publishers, motion-picture studios, distributors and exhibitors, and the Internet community.

Including India, KMR's global media research network provides TV audience measurement services in 27 countries, directly and through its partners. In addition, KMR's TGI network now covers 37 countries and offers specialized software and custom research services globally.

The Kantar Group is responsible for WPP's worldwide information and consultancy interests. The Group is the world's third largest market research organization. Each of the Group's operating companies is a leader in its own area of expertise or specialization. The Group has conducted research studies in over 130 countries and retains a staff of over 5,000. The Group encompasses 171 offices in 59 countries. KMR is an integrated global research, information and software group. Directly and through equity positions, it manages research operations in over 30 countries worldwide, specializing in media and survey research solutions, and analysis software systems.