Kantar to acquire French watermarking technology company Civolution

Interestingly, BARC has a contract with Civolution for the watermarking technology that will be used in the new ratings system in India

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | October 17, 2014

WPP has announced that its wholly-owned media research and analytics business, Kantar Media, a world leader in audience measurement, has conditionally agreed to acquire Civolution's NexTracker audience measurement and SyncNow second screen audio watermarking business. The acquisition will build on Kantar Media's significant global presence and activities in digital audience measurement across all media in over 60 countries.

The acquired business is based in Rennes, France, and is recognised as a world leader in audio watermarking technology, which is deployed in hundreds of channels worldwide. India's upcoming television audience measurement system being set up by Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) has a contract with Civolution for the watermarking technology that will be used in the new ratings system.

Partho Dasgupta

When asked if the acquisition would have any impact on BARC's rating system, Partho Dasgupta, CEO, BARC, said, “This is a routine international M&A. There is no question of any impact in India at all. For Civolution, BARC is a client, and holding company changes don't make an impact.”

The SyncNow business allows second screen devices such as tablets and smartphones to automatically sync to TV content through watermark detection. The NexTracker audio watermarking technology identifies viewing of content across TV, tablet and mobile screens, enriching Kantar Media's existing techniques to meet the digital measurement needs of advertisers and broadcasters.

Kantar Media is part of Kantar, the data investment management division of WPP and one of the world's largest insight, information and consultancy groups. By connecting the diverse talents of its 12 specialist companies, the group aims to become the pre-eminent provider of compelling and inspirational insights for the global business community. The group's services are employed by over half of the Fortune Top 500 companies.

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