Rentrak Gets Patent for Box-On, TV-Off Measure

US-based audience measurement specialist Rentrak has been granted a patent for the system it uses to measure the status of set-top boxes (STBs).

Rentrak says the method - which identifies when TV sets are off, but the set-top box is on - is a 'crucial' component of its 'massive and passive' ratings service, due to the fact that STBs are often left on when TVs are switched off. The company's approach 'includes more than 10,000 statistical models to identify specific viewing situations.'

Vice Chairman and CEO Bill Livek says of the award: 'This is great news for Rentrak and the video industry. This patent recognizes the fact that only Rentrak has the intellectual property and years of experience to precisely measure TV viewing everywhere.'

Rentrak's TV Everywhere business is booming - accounting for seven eighths of the firm's substantial increase in revenue, reported in August. TV Everywhere saw an 84% rise for the quarter, to $10.5m. The firm says it will soon be taking data from 60m STBs or return path TVs for live and DVR viewing and more than 114m for Video on Demand viewing.

The week before last, the agency signed an agreement to acquire the US TV measurement business of WPP's Kantar Media for $98m in common stock, and to sell Kantar's parent WPP a further $56m in shares, bringing the marketing services giant's share of the US company to 16.7%. The deal also gives WPP's GroupM agencies full access to Rentrak audience data.

Web site: www.rentrak.com .

All articles 2006-23 written and edited by Mel Crowther and/or Nick Thomas, 2024- by Nick Thomas, unless otherwise stated.

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