Screen Engine, which has been a leader in the field of movie testing since its launch in 2010, has acquired ASI Entertainment, the company that pioneered dial testing research for television programming. The combined entity will become one of the largest U.S. entertainment research firms.
Screen Engine will continue to focus primarily on film related research, and ASI, which will now be known as Screen Engine/ASI, will service the television and advertising industries.
ASI principals Beverly Bolotin and Elliot Rosenberg will remain with the company.
The acquisition will afford Screen Engine clients access to ASI’s state-of-the-art focus group facilities and high definition screening rooms equipped with dials. Additionally, the combined Screen Engine/ASI entity expands the company’s central location network, allowing large-scale, nationally representative quantitative testing with dial trace technology to serve the television market.
In making the announcement, Screen Engine Founder and CEO Kevin Goetz said, “ASI wrote the playbook on television program testing. It is a great honor to be entrusted to uphold the brand legacy of a company I’ve so long admired. This will be a game changer for all of us and especially for our clients. Our hope is that we become true industry disrupters as we fuse the innovative products that our two companies have built to form the industry’s ‘go-to’ firm for all media and entertainment needs.”
“We are very fortunate that Beverly and Elliot, who are so well regarded across the television industry for their market leading dial research and analysis, will be remaining with the company,” added Robert Levin, president of Screen Engine. “Their years of leadership at the company are integral to its continued success.”
“We are thrilled to be joining the Screen Engine team,” said Bolotin, EVP Screen Engine/ASI. “In addition to being dynamic industry innovators, they share our strong commitment to our clients’ success.” Rosenberg, SVP Screen Engine/ASI, added, “We have always respected what Kevin built in such a very short time, and part of what attracted us was the ability to work with their cutting edge tools and best in class solutions that will undoubtedly propel Screen Engine/ASI forward at an accelerated rate.”
Screen Engine provides both qualitative and quantitative expertise for a suite of products that includes concept and market positioning studies, recruited audience test screenings, creative advertising research, media optimization tools, the industry exit polling service PostTrak (in partnership with Rentrak), and Screen Experts, an expert focus group panel of leading film and television critics. Screen Engine clients include all major studios, independent distributors, and most television and cable networks.
ASI Entertainment has been in business for over 50 years and is credited with advancing the use of dial research for television, advertising, politics and mock juries. The company has conducted research for every broadcast and cable television network, as well as all the major studios in Hollywood. Pilot and program tests have ranged from sitcoms, dramas, children’s programming, documentaries and newscasts, to reality-based shows.
Screen Engine/ASI will serve clients across the broad spectrum of film, television, gaming, digitally delivered content, and beyond. The company provides information and counsel from pre-greenlight all the way through ancillary market distribution platforms, employing an array of quantitative and qualitative research products and services.
Isaac Palmer of Qualia Legacy Advisors acted as exclusive financial advisor to Screen Engine and Cypress served as counsel with assistance from Manufacturers Bank. David Bonrouhi of Calabasas Capital acted as exclusive financial advisor to ASI Entertainment and McGuire Woods served as their counsel.
