SeaChange International is buying TLL, also known as Timeline Labs, for $22 million.
Timeline Labs is a privately-owned software as a service (SaaS) company that specializes in solutions for local broadcasters, local and national news organizations, cable news channels and other media companies.
Specifically, the company has built a content management platform that enables its customers to discover, curate and display geographically targeted news stories that are trending across social media sites (Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, etc.).
Customers use the platform to analyze social media messages in real-time, find and broadcast newsworthy social trends and insights, and measure viewing audience engagement across television, mobile and PC.
The platform generates visualizations ready for air on television and over-the-top.
SeaChange said it intends to expand the target audience to include multiscreen television service providers.
Timeline’s major investors include former executives of television networks ABC, CBS, FOX and NBC, Sinclair Broadcast Group, and Guggenheim Digital Media.
Its customers include Fox Television Stations, Sinclair, Media General and Tribune broadcast television stations, as well as online providers like 120Sports.com.
SeaChange said the purchase price breaks down as $14 million in cash and $8 million in shares of SeaChange. SeaChange will also pay an additional $2.5 million if Timeline meets certain financial targets for Timeline Labs over a two-year period.
The transaction is subject to customary closing conditions and is expected to close on February 2, 2015. All Timeline Labs employees, including the CEO and senior leadership team, will join SeaChange as part of the transaction, SeaChange said.
In addition, SeaChange has agreed to name one person designated by Timeline Labs’ equity holders to theSeaChange board of directors, effective as of closing of the transaction.
SeaChange CEO Jay Samit said, “Timeline Labs’ success demonstrates that social media can be captured for the advantage of the television industry, bringing concrete, new value by truly reflecting and serving the current mindset of their specific audiences. While the broadcast segment represents an accretive growth opportunity for SeaChange, the Timeline Labs platform will allow us to extend the social news paradigm to multiscreen television service providers, so they can easily launch ready-made and differentiated live or on-demand content packages tailored to the interests of their subscribers.”
Timeline Labs CEO Malcolm CasSelle said, We anticipate cross-selling opportunities that will help us to extend our platform to new customers including multiscreen and OTT service providers in new geographies.”
SeaChange and Timeline Labs began collaborating to enable the NewCoin local TV audience measurement venture announced last week with Fox Television Stations, Tribune Media and Univision.
NewCoin’s mission is to harness the data-gathering power of currently available and emerging technologies in order to create a broader based measurement tool that will accurately measure audiences across the entire spectrum of linear and digital platforms.
