The new unit, Kantar Video, will be led by CEO William Lederer, who was most recently the chief operating officer of Kantar Media Audiences North America.

Kantar Video is expected to roll out a public beta of its new syndication, tracking and optimisation platform Kantar Videolytics in the third quarter of 2010. The on-demand product promises data that can be combined with descriptive, behavioural and attitudinal data from consumer panels and the service can be used to evaluate programme content and effectiveness.

Meanwhile, Kantar Media has launched Echo Video, a video analytics tool designed to evaluate and optimise viral video content for brands.

Echo Video combines behavioural and buzz data, providing measures of reach, user sentiment, the behaviour of those who searched for it and their subsequent actions (such as visiting a site), as well as the momentum created in social media pass-along. It combines data sets from across Kantar, including Kantar Media’s social media firm Cymfony and digital analytics company Compete.