SQAD Inc., a provider of TV, radio and Web media cost tracking and forecasting products, has acquired Wrapsidy LLC, the leading provider of ratings-analysis software to the broadcast industry, SQAD’s investment banker DeSilva + Phillips announced.
SQAD is recognized as the industry-standard media cost forecasting source for national TV, spot TV, Hispanic spot TV, spot radio and the Internet. SQAD’s WRAP (Windows Rating Analysis Programs) provide reliable media data to advertising agencies, buying services, advertisers, television and radio stations, cable operators, program syndicators and Internet publishers.
The addition of Wrapsidy’s applications for Nielsen overnight and sweeps-period spot ratings for Nielsen Station Index (NSI) data adds to SQAD’s arsenal of historic and current spot-market metrics and forecasts.
“The Spot Media business is changing,” said SQAD CEO Neil Klar. “New metrics are being developed, new data analysis subsets are always in demand, and the dynamics by which agencies and advertisers use basic Nielsen data are constantly being refined. Our acquisition of SNAP in 2000 substantially enhanced our ability to meet these ongoing challenges for both existing and future clients. Adding Wrapsidy’s best-in-class WRAP Overnights and WRAP Sweeps products to our product line alongside SNAP, is another quantum step forward for us and our customers.”
Wrapsidy, based in Los Gatos, Calif., was founded in 1992 by ratings software pioneer Andy Eshkar (architect of the ground breaking SNAP software in the 1980s), who will take the role of SQAD vice president of WRAP products.
