TV ad measurement company iSpot.tv has acquired 605, the data and analytics company focused on the media and entertainment industries founded by Kristin Dolan, CEO of AMC Networks.
The financial terms of the transaction were not disclosed.
“The deal brings together two of the leading independent TV measurement companies with a significant customer footprint across brands, TV networks and streaming publishers,” iSpot said. “The acquisition of 605 immediately strengthens iSpot’s video and TV advertising effectiveness measurement solutions – especially in the areas of business outcome attribution, advanced audience measurement, media planning and data science managed services.”
iSpot also emphasized that combining both companies’ technologies will “accelerate the delivery of innovative solutions for brands and programmers, especially in predictive AI technologies that leverage proprietary data assets for better prediction, planning, optimization and reporting of Results.”
With the acquisition, iSpot will add set-top box data from 16.6 million households, bringing the total footprint of available TV devices to 82.7 million. The company described the extensive data, including smart TV data from Vizio and LG, as “a critical foundation for delivering accurate, representative measurements and new currency to the TV market” in the digital age.
“605 has developed an impressive technology architecture, a great approach to using big data and a range of powerful solutions that complement ours nicely,” said iSpot founder and CEO Sean Muller. “We are excited to integrate their team of world-class engineers and data scientists into our mission to modernize measurement effectiveness and new currencies.”
All 85 employees of the 605 will join iSpot, founded in Bellevue, Washington in 2012, bringing the company’s total number of employees to 464.
“We launched 605 seven years ago with the idea that high-quality data and advanced analytics would make television advertising even more effective, from planning and segmentation to attribution and now prediction,” said Dolan. “At a time of profound change in our industry, I couldn’t be more proud of the team that delivered on this promise.”
