Consumer and media tracking agency Nielsen and its NM Incite venture have acquired SocialGuide, a leading provider of social TV measurement, analytics and audience engagement solutions.
Nielsen says it wants to develop and deliver comprehensive media measurement solutions and expand its social media research and analytics capabilities as social TV continues to transform the consumer’s viewing experience.
Built for linear TV, SocialGuide’s intelligent analytics and engagement platform provides insight on the social impact of TV, enabling networks to engage with the social fan base in real time. More than 33% of Twitter users actively tweet about TV-related content, the company says.
“The skyrocketing adoption and use of social media among consumers is transforming TV-watching into a more immediate and shared experience. As TV networks see this phenomenon unfold, they require understanding of the impact of social TV on their programming, ratings and advertising effectiveness,” said Steve Hasker, President, Global Media Products and Advertiser Solutions at Nielsen. “Nielsen’s expertise in creating industry standard consumer measurement means we are uniquely suited to establish a deeper understanding of today’s highly-engaged consumers through social TV metrics. We are thrilled by the addition of SocialGuide to our portfolio and welcome them to Nielsen.”
SocialGuide will be integrated immediately into NM Incite, the hub of Nielsen’s social media measurement and analytics efforts. SocialGuide’s software technology and data streams complement NM Incite’s existing software and data solutions.
The focus is on the relationship between social TV and TV ratings, and to enable advertisers to maximize the impact of their spend.
Terms of the acquisition were not disclosed.
“The opportunity in social TV is too big to ignore and there is a need for standard metrics and research to uncover the effect of social TV on programming and advertising strategies,” said Andrew Somosi, CEO of NM Incite. “TV networks are expanding their research, advertising and engagement efforts across social media. The powerful combination of Nielsen, NM Incite and SocialGuide will enable us to deliver unparalleled insights and capabilities to our TV and advertiser clients."
“Nielsen is the industry leader in providing cross-platform and multi-media measurement solutions,” said Sean Casey, founder of SocialGuide. “There is no greater opportunity to establish industry metrics and standards in social TV than bringing Nielsen, NM Incite and SocialGuide together. We are incredibly excited to work together and bring TV networks the next level of measurement.”
NM Incite operates in over 30 markets, including the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, Germany, China, India, Japan and Australia.
SocialGuide is a leading provider of Social TV measurement, analytics and audience engagement solutions. SocialGuide identifies, captures and organizes social buzz from Twitter in real time for every program aired across 232 of the most popular U.S. television channels including Spanish language channels. SocialGuide is a part of NM Incite, a joint venture between Nielsen and McKinsey.