Schurz Communications Expands Its Contract With Rentrak's StationView Essentials to Include Additional Markets

PORTLAND, Ore., June 3 /PRNewswire-FirstCall/ -- Rentrak Corporation (Nasdaq: RENT), the leader in multi-screen media measurement serving the advertising and entertainment industries, today announced an agreement to expand its contract with Rentrak's local market audience measurement system to additional TV stations owned or operated by Schurz Communications. Schurz Communications is a privately-owned communications company that publishes newspapers and owns TV and radio stations across the country.

Under the agreement, Schurz Communications extends Rentrak's measurement services to the South Bend, Indiana and Springfield, Missouri markets which include WSBT-TV (CBS) and SBT2 in South Bend, Indiana as well as KYTV –TV (NBC) and KSPR-TV (ABC) in Springfield, Missouri. The agreement is an expansion of Schurz current contract to provide StationView Essentials to two Schurz owned stations in Wichita, Kansas including KWCH-TV (CBS).

"We've been extremely impressed with the comprehensive data that Rentrak's StationView Essentials has provided for our Wichita affiliate, so expanding to additional stations was an easy decision," said Marci Burdick, Senior Vice President, Schurz Communications. "Our advertisers and clients are also taking notice as Rentrak's system helps them to be even more strategic in reaching their target customers."

"In a highly competitive marketplace, station group managers and individual stations in markets of all sizes appreciate the value that a comprehensive, stable, granular and efficient audience measurement partner delivers to their bottom line," said Steven Walsh, Rentrak's Senior Vice President, Local Market Sales. "Rentrak's StationView Essentials provides to our subscribers all the tools they need to better understand the behaviors of their viewers from both a viewing and product purchase perspective."

StationView Essentials Database Currency is based on a fully-integrated system of detailed satellite, telco TV and cable viewing information from millions of televisions nationwide and provides a distinct advantage in  measuring and communicating not only the size of a station's audience, but also the quality of the program environment for delivering attentive, engaged viewers in an increasingly fragmented media environment.

About StationView Essentials

Developed with industry input and by Rentrak's television station advisory board comprised of local television station operators and local station research professionals, StationView Essentials offers metrics that enhance the ability of subscribers to understand viewer involvement and viewing habits in local markets. Subscribers receive live granular station and telecast level reporting, including cable network performance detail as well as Audience Duplication, Retention and News Analysis information.

About Rentrak Corporation

Rentrak Corporation (NASDAQ: RENT) is a global digital media measurement and research company, serving the most recognizable companies in the entertainment industry. With a reach across numerous platforms including box office, home entertainment, on-demand and linear television, broadband and mobile, Rentrak is headquartered in Portland, Oregon, with additional offices worldwide in Los Angeles, New York City, Miami/Ft. Lauderdale, Argentina, Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Mexico, Spain and the United Kingdom. For more information on any of Rentrak's services, please visit www.rentrak.com.

About Schurz Communications

Based in Mishawaka, Indiana, Schurz Communications, Inc. is a diversified privately-owned, nationwide communications company. The company publishes eleven daily and eight weekly newspapers in medium and small markets with a combined circulation of nearly 225,000. It also publishes shopping publications in California, owns or operates 9 television stations, owns thirteen radio stations and operates three others, two cable companies, a phone directory and a printing company. Geographically, Schurz Communications has a presence in Alaska, Arizona, California, Florida, Georgia, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Michigan, Missouri, Pennsylvania, South Dakota, and Virginia.

SOURCE Rentrak Corporation