New business FLOs for Rentrak, adds mobile TV client

Data will be provided through Rentrak’s TV Essentials measurement and reporting system, beginning later this year. FLO’s lineup includes mobile versions of CBS, CNBC, Comedy Central, ESPN and MTV.

“As mobile TV adoption has continued to rise, the demand for reliable and verifiable viewership data has grown throughout the entertainment, media and advertising industries,” the companies said in a statement.

The latest figures from Nielsen put the number of mobile video watchers in the US at just under 13.5m in the first quarter of 2009 – up 52% year-on-year and a rise of two million on the previous quarter.

Rentrak recently hired media research veteran Bill Livek (pictured) as CEO as part of the company’s effort to turn itself into “a multi-screen measurement and research powerhouse”.

The Pay-Per-Transaction (PPT) content distribution and revenue-sharing system remains the company’s main business line, generating revenue of $18.1m in the three months ending 30 June versus $3.6m in sales for the Advanced Media Information (AMI) division.

However, AMI grew 17% year-on-year whereas PPT revenue declined 18%. Recent client wins for AMI and its Essentials media measurement services include NBC Universal, Home Shopping Network and the pre-school video network Sprout.