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Antipodean JV for YouGov
UK-based pollster YouGov has signed a joint venture with Photon Group, owner of several MR agencies, to establish an online panel business, YouGov Australia. The partners hope to build a panel of 50,000 adults in time to cover the country's forthcoming federal election, in October.
Photon's Business Intelligence Group includes research firms DVL Smith Group, Jigsaw Strategic Research, TLE (The Leading Edge) and the Australian Research Group.
Work on building the panel has commenced in the last week. Today's Sydney Morning Herald quotes Derek Leddie, Head of the Business Intelligence Group at Photon, expecting 'revenues to double over the next 18 months' but also 'a lot of flak' from rival pollsters. Roy Morgan Research's Executive Chairman Gary Morgan has already called the announcement 'a joke', adding: You're wasting your time even reporting it... Online research is growing but you need a cross-section of people', reports the Herald (www.smh.com.au ).
The new company, which is 75% owned by Photon and 25% by YouGov, will use technology from YouGov's well-established UK panels and people and resources from public affairs and lobbying company CPR and high profile research firm TLE (The Leading Edge) which Photon bought in August 2005. Leddie relinquished his role as CEO of TLE six months later (www.mrweb.com/drno/news5229.htm ) to take up the Group position.
The partners' web sites are at www.yougov.com and www.photongroup.com.
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