Nielsen Buys Entertainment Data Firm Gracenote

Nielsen has acquired media and entertainment data provider Gracenote from Tribune Media Company, in a $560m cash deal.

Emeryville, California-based Gracenote provides information for more than twelve million movie and television listings, and 200 million music tracks. Clients use this data to drive customers to their content and in return, gather information about what those customers are consuming. The firm was acquired by Tribune from Sony three years ago for around $170m.

Nielsen says the buy will extend its own footprint, adding a video, music, audio and sport content database spanning multichannel video programming distributors, smart televisions, streaming music services, connected devices, media players, and in-car infotainment systems. As part of the Nielsen Total Audience measurement framework, Gracenote will provide metadata to clients and enable media companies to optimize their content for specific audiences.

John Batter (pictured), CEO of Gracenote, comments: 'For the past decade, Gracenote has connected millions of people every day to the TV shows, sports, movies and music they love, making entertainment more accessible and discoverable. We are excited for the opportunity to take the next step with Nielsen and expand our global reach by continuing to deliver innovative, insights-based solutions to clients'.

Web sites: www.nielsen.com and www.gracenote.com .