comScore Results, Resignation... and Re-set

Audience measurement firm comScore has lost it Board Chair Susan J. Riley, and appointed Dale Fuller to the Board; filed accounts for 2017 showing net loss more than doubled to $281m; and announced it is under investigation by the SEC having overstated revenue by $127m between 2013 and 2015.

No reason was given for Riley's resignation, which is effective immediately although she did comment: 'Having completed the restatement process and set in place a number of initiatives that will enable the Company to achieve its vast potential, I decided that now is the right time for me to step down'. Riley will continue as a consultant to the firm for the rest of this year. The Board is now looking for a new Chair as well as a new CEO, having lost three of the latter since its accounting regularities first showed up two years ago.

Fuller is currently Chairman of the Board at MobiSocial, Inc. and was previously on the Board at Quantum Corporation.

A conference call today was led by Executive Vice Chairman and President Bill Livek (pictured), whose Rentrak corporation was in explosive growth mode when comScore acquired it shortly before the accounting problems came to the fore, and continues to buoy up results, providing a bright spot in today's figures: while digital audience measurement fell from $237m in 2016 to $222m revenue in 2017, the TV and cross-platform measurement business - previously Rentrak-based - grew more than 20%, from $79m to $96m.

Livek is now attempting to put the past firmly behind, commenting: 'The completion of our restatement process and the filing of current financials is an important step for our company as it allows us to move forward and focus our full attention on delivering on the vast potential of our business. On behalf of the Board, I'd like to thank our investors, customers and employees for their patience during this process, and assure them that, as a result of this process, we are significantly improving our accounting policies and procedures as we also constantly reinforce ethical compliance throughout our organization. With these matters behind us, we are confident that our strong assets, market-leading technologies and excellent team will enable us to deliver improved services to our customers, stay ahead of our competitors and deliver long-term value to our stockholders'.

The company, which has begun a process of uncertain length to relist on Nasdaq, is online at www.comscore.com .