Comscore CEO Livek Retires on a High

Comscore CEO Bill Livek has announced plans to retire and move to the position of Non-Executive Vice Chairman after a successor has been found. As the news broke, the firm reported positive net income of $29m for the fourth quarter of 2021, compared to a net loss of $13.2m a year earlier.

For Q4, revenue was $96.5m, up 7.3% from $90.0m in Q4 2020; and adjusted EBITDA was $12.4m, up from $9.4m a year earlier. For full year 2021, revenue rose 3.1% to $367.0m, net loss was $50.0m, compared to $47.9m the previous year; and adjusted EBITDA was $31.9m compared with $32.3m in 2020.

Livek (pictured) was named Comscore CEO in 2019, having previously been CEO of Rentrak (later acquired by Comscore), where he helped build the company's Movie and TV measurement business to a value of more than a billion dollars. Before his nearly seven years at Rentrak, Livek was SVP, Strategic Alliances and Global Expansion at Experian Marketing Services; Co-Chairman of Simmons Market Research Bureau; and he co-founded Symmetrical Resources, which acquired Simmons before itself being acquired by Experian in 2004. Earlier in his career, Livek served as VP Sales and Marketing at Arbitron (later acquired by Nielsen).

Livek plans to continue to serve on Comscore's Board until completion of his Board term in mid-2024, and Comscore has engaged executive search business Spencer Stuart to assist with the search for a candidate to replace him. In a statement, Livek said that it had been an honor to serve Comscore's shareholders, customers and employees. Brent Rosenthal, Chairman of the Board, added: 'On behalf of the Comscore Board, employees and industry, we want to thank Bill for his leadership and successful turnaround of Comscore. Bill ensured that Comscore is in a stronger position than it's ever been and prepared to serve as the future of media measurement'.

Web site: www.comscore.com .