Monday, October 26, 2020
Penske Media, MRC In Data Joint Venture
Los Angeles-based companies MRC, the owner of a independent TV studios and a number of other entertainment companies and holdings--including measurement firm Nielsen Music--and Penske Media Corporation (PMC), announced late last week that they are in a new, joint venture, which will join their ata businesses. According to the two, they will create a new company which combines MRC Data (formerly Nielsen Music), Alpha Data and Variety Business Intelligence, with MRC and PMC sharing equal ownership and control. Other financial details of the deal were not announced. The companies said the newly formed company will be headed in the interim by Deanne Brown, the current President of MRC Data. The companies said that MRC Data was created in 2019 through the acquisition of Nielsen Music, which is behind the well known Billboard charts, as well as Alpha Data/BuzzAngle, and Variety Business Intelligence (VBI). PMC and MRC also previously created a separate company PMRC Holdings, a joint venture bringing together The Hollywood Reporter, Variety, Rolling Stone, Billboard, Vibe and Music Business Worldwide.