The media intelligence sector’s diary is getting rather full. Social listening platforms Brandwatch and Crimson Hexagon have completed their merger, Ipsos is buying Synthesio and WPP is selling off a majority stake in its media insights arm Kantar. Clearly something is going on.  In large part the latest wave of consolidation is being driven by commercial pressures; the media intelligence sector is carrying a lot of debt and balance sheets need to be put into good order. Elsewhere many of the start-ups hatched in the first decade of the new century are coming to the end of their funding rounds and investors

are looking to exit. As well as making good on the investments of the past, the media intelligence sector is also realigning to meet the opportunities of the future. Decisions are being taken against a backdrop of technological change as artificial intelligence (AI) transforms the way media is monitored and analysed. This is not the first time the sector has been turned upside down by technology and it is unlikely to be the last.  What we are seeing with AI and machine learning is the latest iteration of a cycle of disruption and renewal that stretches back at least… read more »