TNS MI will monitor multiple cable systems per market, allowing clients to differentiate commercial announcements that cleared market-wide, versus regional zones. Tracking of commercials will be done from 5:00 a.m. to 2:00 a.m., seven days a week. All advertising occurrence detail will be provided, including network, category, advertiser, brand and number of units. The first set of data for San Francisco and Boston will be available in April 2006.

“Local cable television is a critical element to many advertising campaigns and we are pleased to be the first competitive intelligence provider to track this vital information which, until now, has never been available,” said Steven Fredericks, President and CEO of TNS Media Intelligence. “Local cable television will be the 20^th media type TNS MI tracks, and it will align our industry leading monitoring capabilities with one of local cable’s key selling points – geographic targeting.”

For years, the absence of local cable monitoring has made media planning and competitive analysis a difficult task. The complexity of tracking this medium, due to the manner in which a large volume of commercials are distributed in multiple zones to different networks at different times, was once technologically prohibitive. However, after careful analysis and the ability to leverage its proprietary MediaWatch^tm technology, TNS MI is poised to capture a considerable percentage of local market advertising; providing maximum utility for client needs.

“We chose San Francisco and Boston as the first target markets to launch our local cable television service because of high client demand in those cities. We look forward to expanding our coverage to more markets and stations based on client requirements in the coming months,” added Fredericks.

About TNS Media Intelligence
TNS Media Intelligence the leading provider of strategic advertising intelligence to advertising agencies, advertisers, and media properties. The company's tracking technologies collect advertising expenditure and occurrence data, as well as select creative executions, across 20 media in the U.S.

Established in 23 countries with more than 16,000 customers, TNS MI is part of the TNS Group, ranked #2 worldwide in marketing information. TNS Media Intelligence monitors 3 million brands worldwide across a multitude of media, including TV, radio, print, internet, cinema and outdoor. The company offers a full range of insights and analyses, including the tracking of advertising expenditures and advertising creative, as well as news monitoring and sports sponsorship evaluation.

For further information, please visit http://www.tns-mi.com.

About TNS
TNS is a market information group. We are the world’s largest custom research company and a leading provider of social and political polling. We are also a major supplier of consumer panel, TV audience measurement and media intelligence services.

TNS operates a global network spanning 70 countries and employs over 13,000 people. We provide market information and measurement, together with insights and analysis, to local and multinational organizations.

We combine our specialist sector knowledge with expertise in the areas of new product development, motivational research, brand and advertising research and stakeholder management to bring our clients up-to-the minute, internationally consistent information.

We think differently to help our clients build competitive advantage, making TNS the sixth sense of business.

www.tns-global.com