Nuremberg/London – Following a further round of investment, GfK announced on May 28 that it has become the majority shareholder in Genius Digital, the specialist in capturing, analysing and applying viewer data for the TV industry.

The current engagement continues the strategic partnership established in September 2013. This investment will help GfK to better meet the increasingly complex analysis needs of pay-TV operators by enriching its powerful audience measurement solutions with market research related service offerings unlocked by Genius Digital’s data capture and analysis technology.

“Working with Genius Digital over the past six months has exceeded our expectations. We are impressed with the strength of the team and their unique solutions for the collection, integration and deep analysis of TV data,” said Nick North, Global Lead, Media and Entertainment, GfK. “Genius Digital’s innovative technology enables us to offer our customers insights which are most relevant to them, and crucially, the capability to understand what it means for their business. By taking a majority share in Genius Digital, we can leverage strong synergies between our market research business and related offerings from Genius Digital’s own real time data analysis technology.”

“Since their initial investment last September, GfK have demonstrated that they share our vision and commitment to become a world leader in providing real time consumer insights and data services to the TV industry. We are delighted that GfK will take a majority position in the business, as it provides Genius Digital with crucial market opportunities,” said Jonathan Sykes, who will continue as Executive Chairman of Genius Digital.

Tom Weiss, who continues as CEO, said: “We are building significant momentum and this is a further step towards developing a truly end to end service for our customers, utilising the complementary strengths and industry expertise of both companies.”

Due to the fact that the Genius Digital technology can be used to deliver business benefits to TV operators beyond market research, the company will not be integrated into GfK’s brand and will operate separately under the established name Genius Digital.