Following the £1.6bn acquistion of TNS by WPP in October 2008, the media assets of TNS, KMR Group and BMRB Media have combined to form Kantar Media.

The newly branded Kantar Media will be split into three business units; TGI & Custom, Audiences and Intelligence which together will provide media monitoring and evaluation, analysis software and audience measurement services across media platforms.

TGI & Custom will be headed by Richard Asquith, who effectively took on the role last February when WPP acquired TNS. Formerly Asquith had been MD of BMRB, a role itself created by WPP's last reshuffle in 2004. Prior to that he ran TGI.

Audiences will be headed by Richard Marks, the former head of TNS media research.

Intelligence, effectively the former TNS media intelligence that provided strategic advertising, marketing and PR information as well as digital and social media intelligence services, will be fronted by its former MD, Madeleine Kernot.

Asquith, Marks and Kernot will report into Jean-Michel Portier, CEO of Kantar Media and former chairman and chief executive of TNS Media Intelligence Worldwide.

According to Andy Brown, chairman of Kantar Media, “The transition to Kantar Media reflects the integration of TNS Media, BMRB and KMR Group as well as SRDS (online media planning solutions) and our enhanced ability to support our clients in the current media world. We have progressed from being the measurer of all things media to offering a 360° perspective that includes audiences and brands.”

See also

Feeding the media mouth
(Archive/July 2009)
... specialists such as Nielsen Buzz Metrics and TNS Media Monitoring. One of the big questions is how the influence of an online comment should be judged – is it just a voice in the wilderness or a commentator ...

AMEC announces its awards shortlist
(News/Stories)
... Business-to-Business Echo Research forJP Morgan Asset Management Media Measurement for RSA Media Monitors for Queensland Energy Resources Media Watch for D2 TNS Media Intelligence for Diageo Best Use ...

The AMEC winners showcase
(News/Stories)
... Members' Award for the evaluation work that they did for Queensland Energy Resources. The Young Professional of the Year Award was jointly won by Gemma Plant of Echo Research and Matthew Couchman of TNS ...