In the 22^nd, 23^rd and 24^th April 2009, was held in Sesimbra, Portugal, the Eighth International Meeting of Markdata.

This meeting brought together representatives of France, Belgium, Holland, Ukraine, and this year the Latin American countries marked a strong presence with people from different areas of IBOPE Pesquisa de Media from Brazil, Ecuador, Chile, Argentina, Peru, Costa Rica and Mexico.

There were also new faces, a representative of Georgia, Morocco, South Africa and Switzerland.

As in previous years, the reunion had as main objective to introduce the latest market developments of the company in strategic terms, as well as to analyze and discuss realities of each market in order to devise joint strategies for the future.

As of 1_st January 2009 Markdata SA and GfK Telecontrol AG, a Company based in Switzerland, signed an agreement for the non-exclusive distribution and marketing of software for analyzing media developed by Markdata.

This agreement allows GfK Telecontrol AG to present global solutions; electronics and software for analysis and planning for Television and Radio, in potential markets that demand for such solutions.

It will also allow those already associated with GfK Telecontrol AG to benefit from the technology of both companies to meet the needs of their customers.

Through this agreement Markdata aims to expand and foothold in the international market, working with one of the most advanced developments in electronic solutions for audience measurement.

GfK Telecontrol AG is a wholly-owned subsidiary of GfK AG in Nuremberg, Germany – the fifth largest market research company in the world. Domiciled in Switzerland, GfK Telecontrol AG is a good example of “Swiss Quality”: developed by GfK Telecontrol AG itself, both of its products “Telecontrol” and “Mediawatch” – have been in use for 22 years in a total of 28 countries worldwide. Ahead of them all, the Swiss Broadcasting Company has been using Telecontrol since 1985 to monitor TV usage and Radiocontrol or the Mediawatch since 2001 to monitor radio usage. Telecontrol or Mediawatch are also being used in Germany, Austria, Cyprus and many Eastern European and Asian countries such as Rumania, Bulgaria, Armenia, Georgia and India and other countries worldwide to monitor TV and radio consumption.

Markdata starts 2009 by entering in the new media market of Georgia.

In January a contract between Markdata and BCG Research (Georgian company) was signed.

BCG Research is a full service of Marketing Research Agency operating both in the public and private sector. BCG was founded in 2003 by qualified managers and researchers who had vast team-work experience.

In the summer 2007 BCG became licensee of GFK and started TAM (Television Audience Measurement) project, using the technologies and methodology of GFK.

Since January 2009 BCG has launched the new product Markdata Media Workstation. It was an effective decision for the company's successful operation on the Georgian media market to have a combination of GFK hardware technologies and Markdata's analyzing software.

BCG Research represents a media panel of 414 Households measuring the 4+ Georgian population viewing behavior (equivalent of 1,466,000) in 7 cities of Georgia of which 270 are recruited in Tbilisi (capital of Georgia).