»
TNS, the research company that has been pushing into the ratings space via digital TV set-top data, has turned down a $1.87 billion buyout offer from WPP Group.
Nielsen Co., TNS’s biggest competitor, is believed to be preparing an even heftier offer, writes MediaPost.
WPP has significant research holdings and has been considering various ways of expanding its presence in that marketplace. Other possibilities for the holding company include an acquisition of Aegis Groupe, whose Synovate research unit is considered by some to be a hot target.
WPP’s offer was apparently designed to block a proposed merger between TNS and WPP’s German rival GfK AG, which was announced Tuesday, according to the Wall Street Journal. Such a merger would create stronger competition to WPP’s research division, the Kantar Group.
“The Board has no hesitation in rejecting this opportunistic proposal as it substantially undervalues the company even on a standalone basis,” TNS Chairman Donald Brydon said in a news release Sunday.
TNS is relatively small in the U.S., but is making a so-far successful run at Nielsen’s TV ratings monopoly. It recently signed a deal with DirecTV to cull data from 100,000 TV set-top boxes, and media agencies like Starcom MediaVest are already using the data to measure niche cable channels, writes Silicon Alley Insider.
Nielsen recently nabbed IAG Research in the U.S. for $225 million.
CBS Radio has launched a video platform allowing its 140 radio stations the ability to create personalized branded video players to feature station content.
Content could include music videos, artist interviews, live concert performances, breaking news and original programming. Advertisers…
The New York Times will increase the newsstand price of its Monday-Saturday editions to $1.50, effective Aug. 18. The current price is $1.25.
The Sunday Times will continue to sell for $4 at the newsstand in New York metropolitan areas,…
Publicis Groupe’s first half organic growth was 5.4 percent, which chairman and CEO Maurice Levy characterizes as “very good,” though he acknowledges the company was adversely affected by the Healthcare sector.
Without healthcare, growth would have been 7.1 percent, he…
Sen. Barack Obama has made the first significant network-TV buy of any presidential candidate in at least 16 years, signing on with NBC for a $5 million package of Olympic spots including network TV and cable.
The last time a…
The 75th anniversary October issue of Esquire will feature an electronic cover with words and images flashing upon it. The cover, created using electronic paper display (EPD) technology, will scroll the words “The 21st Century Begins Now” when it hits…
Worldwide customer relationship management (CRM) software revenue totaled $8.1 billion in 2007, a 23 percent increase from 2006 revenue of $6.6 billion, according to Gartner, Inc. Growth was buoyed, in part, by continuing strong demand for new technologies, reports MarketingCharts.
See…
