Gracenote Acquires Baseline, A Leading Movie and TV Data and Services Company

EMERYVILLE, Calif., Sept. 3, 2014 /PRNewswire/ -- Gracenote today announced it has acquired Baseline, a provider of film and television information and services. Baseline's industry-leading database deepens Gracenote's existing video metadata by adding detailed, descriptive information about movies and TV productions to power next generation TV and video experiences for viewers.  Additionally, Baseline's The Studio System platform expands Gracenote's reach into the studio and TV network communities with data and services geared towards entertainment industry professionals.

"The acquisition of Baseline continues our strategy to build upon our existing metadata expertise to advance Gracenote's leadership in entertainment data and services," said Peter Liguori, president and chief executive officer of Tribune Media. "We've made strategic acquisitions in the last few months that have expanded our geographic footprint and have strengthened Gracenote's services. In combination with our recent international acquisitions, Baseline is yet another example of our commitment to provide customers the highest standard of global solutions in the metadata space."

Baseline's movie and TV database features information for more than 300,000 movies and TV projects, information on nearly 1.5 million TV and Film professionals, and box office data for 45 territories. Baseline's licensed data powers video search and discovery features and TV Everywhere apps for leading satellite operators, on-demand movie services, Internet companies and online streaming providers, including Hulu and VUDU. The company's database is also the foundation for Baseline's subscription-based content delivery platform, The Studio System, which is used by major Hollywood studios, production companies and talent agencies as a primary source of business intelligence.

"For years, Baseline has served as the trusted source for entertainment data to help digital media companies, studios and agencies stay on top of a fast changing industry," said John Batter, CEO of Gracenote. "Baseline's deep production data coupled with its existing relationships with the studio community will help us improve the depth and breadth of the data we offer to existing Gracenote customers, as well as provides us a foundation to build products aimed squarely at serving the entertainment industry."

Gracenote will utilize Baseline's data and content delivery platform to expand its own TV and movie offerings, which currently serve the world's top cable and satellite operators, social networks, on-demand services and consumer electronics manufacturers. Baseline's data, which is becoming increasingly important to Gracenote customers, includes production timelines, shooting locations, project financing, complete cast and crew credits, talent representation, biographies and imagery. Combined, Gracenote's entertainment data and products will now cover the full entertainment ecosystem from content creation to consumption by viewers.

Tribune Media Company acquired Gracenote earlier this year and integrated it with Tribune Media Services (TMS), under the Gracenote brand. Gracenote's TV data presence in Europe and TMS' presence in North America and Latin America quickly positioned the newly combined company as a leader in TV data, as well as music. In July, the company expanded into India, the Middle East and parts of Asia with Tribune's acquisition of What's-ON, the region's top TV data provider. The addition of Baseline now further expands Gracenote's video data footprint and adds a portfolio of new entertainment data services.

Baseline will continue to operate from its headquarters in Los Angeles.

Gracenote, a division of Tribune Media Company (OTC: TRBAA), which now includes its legacy Tribune Media Services (TMS) business, is purchasing all of the shares of Baseline for $50 million, subject to standard adjustments.

About Gracenote

Gracenote, Inc. provides music and video content and technologies to the world's hottest entertainment products and brands. Gracenote is the industry standard for music and video recognition and is supported by the largest source of music and video metadata, featuring descriptions of more than 180 million tracks and TV listings for 50 countries. Gracenote is a subsidiary of Tribune Media Company (OTC:TRBAA) and has 15 offices with worldwide headquarters in Emeryville, Calif. For more information, visit our website www.gracenote.com or follow us at @GracenoteTweets and www.facebook.com/PoweredbyGracenote.

SOURCE Gracenote