Kantar and Twitter Link for UK TV Analytics

Audience measurement giant Kantar Media is to work with Twitter to develop a suite of planning and analytics tools for UK broadcasters, media agencies and the wider television industry.

The first fruit of this strategic alliance - for which Kantar Media will work in collaboration with its recognised Social TV partner SecondSync - will be available next year.

The tools will combine Twitter's data on social media chat relating to TV with Kantar's audience research expertise, and will help clients assess promotional activity and plan their media mix more effectively.

Kantar Media Chairman Andy Brown comments: 'The relevance of social media buzz to the TV industry continues to grow... Twitter is the only platform that is public, real-time, and conversational. These characteristics have made Twitter a unique data set for the purposes of measuring live social TV conversation at scale and bringing new tools to broadcasters, agencies, and brands to understand and amplify the social engagement about their programming.'

Twitter COO Ali Rowghani says 'Our users love using Twitter while tuned into television to interact with talent and participate in the live social conversation about TV. In this way, Twitter has become a live companion to the TV viewing experience for millions of people in the UK and around the world, and we are thrilled that Kantar Media will be bringing its considerable audience measurement experience to bear to develop tools and standards for the industry.'

Web sites: www.kantarmedia.com and www.twitter.com .