The winning university will be able to use the data stored in the Time Warner Medialab for university?based research initiatives, especially for exploration, innovation, and original thinking in the area of media and its usage.

Time Warner will underwrite the cost of the study for the university. Kristen O’Hara, SVP and CMO of Time Warner, says: “This collaboration will further our collective understanding of consumer behaviour, media consumption and how both continue to evolve in the multi-platform environment.”

The lab was set up by the Time Warner Research Council – made up of researchers from HBO, Time, Turner Broadcasting System and Warner Brothers Entertainment. Ipsos MediaCT served as primary partner in its development, with input from Schlesinger Associates and neuroscience researcher Innerscope.

It contains a 50-seat theatre, an “in-home style” living room, a retail area with a mock checkout, an eye-tracking station and games consoles. These can be observed by researchers at the lab, or remotely from anywhere in the world.