TV analytics firm 605 has been acquired by ad measurement company iSpot, the company’s fourth acquisition in five years and its largest to date.
Kristin Dolan, who founded 605, became CEO of AMC Networks earlier this year. The Dolan family controls the shares of AMC Networks and the Madison Square Garden companies.
Financial terms were not disclosed.
The deal combines two prominent, independent TV measurement firms with a track record with brands, TV networks, streaming services and digital publishers. Bringing aboard 605 will bolster iSpot’s measurement capabilities in areas like business outcome attribution, advanced audience measurement, media planning and data science managed services.
All 85 employees of 605 will be joining iSpot, bringing total employee count to 464. In the immediate term, 605 will continue to operate as an iSpot company, building and supporting 605 solutions. The companies will work together to integrate all products under a single offering that utilize a unified data spine and technology infrastructure for all measurement and currency offerings.
“605 has developed an impressive technology architecture, a great approach to using big data and a suite of powerful solutions that nicely complement our own,” said Sean Muller, founder and CEO of iSpot. “We are excited to integrate their world-class team of engineers and data scientists in our mission to modernize measurement effectiveness and new currencies.”
The deal provides iSpot with set-top box data from 16.6 million homes, bringing iSpot’s total available TV device footprint to 82.7 million. The combined data sets include smart TV data from Vizio and LG.
“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 all the way through to attribution and now prediction. During a time of profound change in our industry, I could not be more proud of the team for delivering on that promise,” Dolan said. “iSpot has built a large and loyal customer base, particularly with large brand advertisers, and is a pioneer in the measurement space. I can’t wait to see the things this powerful combination of technology and talent can achieve and bring to a growing array of clients and partners under iSpot’s leadership.”