TiVo, Inc. is finalizing its $20 million acquisition of TRA, a media measurement software and analytics company, say Tara Maitra, TiVo’s SVP and GM content and media sales and Mark Lieberman, TRA’s chairman and CEO.
“We’re just going through the customary closing procedures of the agreement at this time,” says Maitra, who expects the acquisition to be complete by the end of the month.
“This is TiVo’s first acquisition,” Maitra adds, “and certainly the first in the analytics segment.” In recent years, Maitra says, TiVo executives have served on the board of directors at TRA. Through the acquisition, TiVo will create its own analytics unit, shifting TRA’s original acronym from “The Right Audience” to “TiVo Research and Analytics.”
The relationship between the two companies has gone from a minor investment in TRA to “100%” ownership, says Lieberman, adding that the acquisition was a “natural, evolutionary step for both TiVo and TRA.” TRA first added TiVo subscriber data in 2008.
With the acquisition, TiVo inherits TRA’s platform TRAnalytics, which matches a household’s television ad exposures with actual purchases by that same household, says Lieberman. Because television remains the principle medium for many advertisers, Maitra says, TiVo recognizes the value in providing analytical insights to advertisers to better demonstrate the ROI on TV media spend.
“This is a page out of the direct marketing handbook that has been applied to TV,” says Lieberman. “We can track in what household their commercial is being played and whether the consumer in that household is up for a renewal of that firm’s offerings.”
Both Lieberman and Maitra say that there will be no layoffs as a result of the acquisition. Lieberman declined to comment on its annual revenue though he notes that “TRA has been earning 50% plus every year.” According to a release, TRA has 45 brand clients – Lieberman declines to disclose names—and 27 network clients including Procter & Gamble, A&E, and CBS.
TRA will retain its brand, according to Maitra and Lieberman, however the acronym will no longer stand for “The Right Audience”; it will instead stand for “TiVo Research and Analytics.”
In recent months, brands have been requesting analytics that link online and video viewing habits with offline activities, like purchases.
