YouGov Buys Film/TV Sector Analyst Portent.IO

YouGov has acquired data science-driven film and TV industry research agency Portent.IO - in which it was already an investor - for an undisclosed sum. The company will be rebranded as YouGov Signal.

Founded in the UK, but now with its eleven-strong team based between London, LA, Poland, Israel and Holland, Portent.IO provides a social media analytics platform for the film and television industry. The firm dissects, maps and processes digital, survey, marketing and social media data to give clients predictive analytics models and track the efficacy of their campaigns.

In 2015, the firm received $450k in a seed round of funding from Innovate UK and YouGov; and it has since used YouGov panel data to survey consumers and its Profiles audience segmentation data to help media teams plan their marketing campaigns. While Portent's technology currently provides a view of what consumers think about films and TV programmes, YouGov will extend its application to other sectors.

Hamish Brocklebank (pictured), co-founder and CEO of Portent.IO (and husband of The Good Wife actress Jess Weixler), comments: 'With YouGov's early backing, we pivoted to provide digital and social data for movies and TV shows across more than twenty markets, focusing on helping them understand demand around their content, efficacy of marketing and optimisation of creative. We've grown fast in just three years and I'm incredibly proud that the business is now being fully acquired by such a well-respected global brand as YouGov'.

Web sites: www.yougov.com and www.portentio.com .