Telmar
A New York-headquartered media technology company providing software, data analytics, and planning tools for advertisers, agencies, broadcasters, and media owners.
Last updated August 25, 2026
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Overview
Telmar is a media technology company founded in New York City in 1968 by Stanley Federman, who left Young & Rubicam to establish an independent supplier of computerized media information services. The company developed at a time when advertising agencies and media organizations were beginning to use computer systems to evaluate audiences, media performance, costs, selection, and scheduling. Its early systems allowed clients to transmit information to Telmar’s computers through acoustic data couplers, telephone lines, and Teletype equipment, reflecting the technical constraints of the pre-personal-computer era. Telmar’s business has centered on the conversion of complex consumer, audience, advertising, and media-investment data into tools that support planning and decision-making. Over time, the company expanded from computer-assisted media analysis into software for cross-media planning, campaign reporting, audience targeting, data integration, visualization, and return-on-investment analysis. Its products have supported advertising and media companies working across television, audio, digital media, and out-of-home advertising. The company introduced a PC-based media planning system in the early 1980s and became IBM’s first Value Added Dealer for personal computers in 1983. It also made systems using MRI and Simmons research data available to clients that had purchased the relevant datasets. Telmar later developed web-based products, including e-Telmar and Research Guru, enabling users to access research and planning functions through browser-based interfaces rather than relying exclusively on locally installed systems. Telmar broadened its offering through acquisitions, alliances, and specialized planning products. Its 2004 acquisition of Peaktime added television planning and yield-management capabilities and expanded its client reach across multiple countries. In 2005, the company introduced an updated Outdoor Planning System and MultiBasing, a tool for combining separate databases into unified analytical results. Subsequent products and partnerships addressed global outdoor planning, traffic measurement, cross-media effectiveness, and campaign return on investment. The company’s later software model is described as software as a service. TelmarHelixa provides media-planning and analytics capabilities for large advertisers, agencies, broadcasters, and media organizations, including organizations associated with the BBC, Canal+, Discovery, and Eurosport, according to the cited reference material. Its tools are designed to integrate and analyze large datasets across multiple media channels and to provide targeting, reporting, visualization, and consultative data-integration services such as multibasing. On October 10, 2019, Telmar was acquired by Liiv, a holding company founded by James Ingram and Benoit Lagarde. Publicly available material supplied for this dossier does not establish a current chief executive, detailed ownership percentages, financial results, or a standalone public listing. Telmar’s present identity is therefore best understood as an active business-to-business media software and data-services brand operating internationally rather than as a consumer advertising brand.
History
Telmar was founded in 1968 by Stanley Federman after he left Young & Rubicam. It became an early independent provider of computerized media information services for the advertising industry, combining consumer research and media-audience data with computer-assisted evaluations of media performance, cost, selection, and scheduling. In its early operating model, clients transmitted information to Telmar’s computers using acoustic data couplers, telephone networks, and Teletype equipment. The company moved into personal-computer media planning during the early 1980s. In 1983, Telmar introduced a PC-based media-planning system and became IBM’s first Value Added Dealer for PCs. It also supported systems using MRI and Simmons data for clients that acquired those research datasets. Telmar subsequently pursued legal action seeking an injunction related to the distribution of MRI and Simmons data through PC-based systems. The dispute illustrates the importance of data-access and software-delivery arrangements in the company’s early market. Telmar expanded into Web-based research and planning products in the late 1990s. The company launched e-Telmar as an online media-planning system and later introduced Research Guru in 2007 to simplify the analysis of media and advertising research. Its product development increasingly addressed the integration of multiple datasets and the practical needs of agencies, advertisers, broadcasters, and media owners. In 2004, Telmar acquired Peaktime, a television-planning and yield-management system. The acquisition added tools for tracking television-audience delivery through a graphical interface and broadened the company’s customer base across advertisers, agencies, and media organizations in roughly 25 to 30 countries. In 2005, Telmar introduced a new Outdoor Planning System to replace its earlier Outdoor Synergy tool. The system was designed to incorporate newer research inputs, including GPS-related information, and to support the work of the Traffic Audit Bureau for Media Measurement. That year, Telmar also launched MultiBasing, which allowed separate databases to be combined into a single analytical result. Telmar continued to develop outdoor and cross-media capabilities. In 2010, it introduced traffic-counting functionality that combined vehicle and pedestrian counts with interviews to estimate the number of people exposed to an advertiser’s message. It also announced an alliance with Cuende Infometrics of Spain for TOPS 2.0, an international development of its outdoor-planning software. In 2011, Telmar integrated Traffic Audit Bureau out-of-home rating data into its planning tools and released Telmar Matterhorn ROI, developed with Marketing Evolution to analyze campaign effectiveness and the impact of media-plan changes on return on investment. The supplied reference material also records Telmar beginning to provide broadband satellite communications for the Essberger Group’s fleet in 2012, although the available information does not explain the scale or duration of that activity. In its later form, Telmar is described as TelmarHelixa, a multinational SaaS media-technology company headquartered in New York City. Its services include targeting, analysis, reporting, data integration, visualization, multimedia campaign planning, custom data loading, and consultative integration across audio, video, out-of-home, and digital media. The reference material identifies customers and users among major advertisers, media companies, broadcasters, and organizations associated with the BBC, Canal+, Discovery, and Eurosport. On October 10, 2019, Telmar was acquired by Liiv, a holding company founded by James Ingram and Benoit Lagarde. The available sources do not provide a complete chronology of post-acquisition management, detailed financial information, or a current corporate website. Telmar’s documented development nevertheless shows a long transition from centralized computer services for media research to internationally deployed SaaS tools for integrated advertising and media analytics.
- 2019
Acquired by Liiv
[1]Liiv acquired Telmar on October 10, 2019.
- 2011
Matterhorn ROI released
[1]Telmar launched a cross-media planning and marketing-effectiveness product developed with Marketing Evolution.
- 2010
TOPS 2.0 alliance announced
[1]Telmar partnered with Cuende Infometrics to develop and launch a more internationally oriented version of its outdoor-planning software.
- 2007
Research Guru introduced
[1]Research Guru provided a Web-based way for advertising users to analyze media research.
- 2005
Outdoor Planning System and MultiBasing introduced
[1]Telmar launched a new outdoor-planning product and a tool for combining separate databases into unified results.
- 2004
Peaktime acquired
[1]The acquisition added television planning and yield-management capabilities.
- 1998
e-Telmar launches
[1]The company introduced e-Telmar, a Web-based media-planning system.
- 1983
PC-based media planning introduced
[1]Telmar introduced a PC-based media-planning system and became IBM’s first Value Added Dealer for PCs.
- 1968
Telmar is founded
[1]Stanley Federman founded Telmar after leaving Young & Rubicam, establishing an independent computerized media-information business.
Products and positioning
A business-to-business SaaS and data-analytics provider for media planning, audience analysis, campaign measurement, and cross-channel advertising decision-making.
Web-based media planning · 1998
e-Telmar
e-Telmar was Telmar’s Web-based media-planning system, introduced in the late 1990s. It represented a shift from earlier centralized and PC-based installations toward browser-accessible planning workflows. The product was intended to help advertising and media users organize research, evaluate media choices, and develop campaign plans through an online environment.
Television planning and yield management
Peaktime
Peaktime was a television-planning and yield-management system acquired by Telmar in 2004. Its functionality enabled users to monitor television-audience delivery and review performance through a graphical interface. The acquisition strengthened Telmar’s offering for advertisers, agencies, and media organizations and helped extend its customer reach across multiple countries.
Out-of-home advertising planning · 2005
Outdoor Planning System
Introduced in 2005 as a successor to Telmar’s Outdoor Synergy tool, the Outdoor Planning System was designed for out-of-home media planning. It incorporated newer research inputs, including GPS-related information, and was intended to support measurement practices associated with the Traffic Audit Bureau for Media Measurement.
Data integration · 2005
MultiBasing
MultiBasing was introduced to combine separate databases into a single set of analytical results. The tool addressed a recurring media-research problem: planning and audience analysis often depend on datasets with different structures or bases. Its purpose was to make those sources more usable together for campaign planning and reporting.
Media research analysis · 2007
Research Guru
Research Guru was Telmar’s Web-based research tool, introduced in 2007. It was designed to simplify the process of finding and analyzing relevant media information for advertising agencies and other professional users. The product extended Telmar’s focus from planning calculations toward more accessible research-analysis workflows.
International outdoor planning software · 2010
TOPS 2.0
TOPS 2.0 was developed through Telmar’s 2010 alliance with Cuende Infometrics, a Spanish outdoor-software specialist. It improved on the earlier TOPS 1.0 and extended a tool that had previously been focused on the United States toward broader international use in outdoor-media planning.
Cross-media effectiveness and ROI analysis · 2011
Telmar Matterhorn ROI
Matterhorn ROI was a cross-media planning tool developed with Marketing Evolution and released in 2011. It was designed to connect media planning with campaign-effectiveness analysis, allowing users to assess how changes in media plans could affect marketing return on investment across channels.
Media technology and analytics SaaS
TelmarHelixa SaaS platform
TelmarHelixa is described as Telmar’s multinational SaaS media-technology offering. Its capabilities include audience targeting, analysis, reporting, visualization, data integration, custom data loading, multimedia campaign planning, and consultative services. The platform is intended for work across audio, video, out-of-home, and digital advertising data.
Brand decisions
2019
Acquisition by LiivM&ABackground
Telmar had developed into an international media-planning and analytics business with SaaS offerings.
Action taken
Liiv, a holding company founded by James Ingram and Benoit Lagarde, acquired Telmar on October 10, 2019.
Aftermath
The supplied sources do not provide detailed post-acquisition management, integration, or financial information.
2004
Acquisition of PeaktimeM&ABackground
Telmar sought to expand beyond general media-information services into television planning and yield management.
Action taken
Telmar acquired Peaktime, adding a television-audience delivery and performance-tracking system.
Aftermath
The acquisition expanded Telmar’s client base among advertisers, agencies, and media organizations across approximately 25 to 30 countries.
1983
Legal action over PC-based research-data distributionOtherBackground
After Telmar made systems using MRI and Simmons data available through PC-based tools, it sought an injunction concerning the way those companies offered their data through PC systems and the effect on Telmar’s service.
Action taken
Telmar filed a lawsuit seeking an injunction against MRI and Simmons.
Aftermath
The supplied reference material does not state the outcome of the litigation.
Recent events
- 2019
Telmar acquired by Liiv[1]
M&A
Liiv, a holding company founded by James Ingram and Benoit Lagarde, acquired Telmar on October 10, 2019.
- 2011
Telmar launches Matterhorn ROI[1]
Product launch
Telmar released Matterhorn ROI, a cross-media planning tool developed with Marketing Evolution to connect media-plan changes with campaign effectiveness and return-on-investment analysis.
- 2010
Telmar introduces TOPS 2.0 through an alliance with Cuende Infometrics[1]
Product generation
An alliance with Spanish outdoor-software specialist Cuende Infometrics supported the launch of TOPS 2.0, extending Telmar’s outdoor-planning capabilities internationally.
- 1998
Telmar launches the Web-based e-Telmar media-planning system[1]
Product launch
Telmar introduced e-Telmar as a Web-based media-planning system, extending its software offering beyond earlier computer and PC-based tools.
- 1983
Telmar files a dispute concerning PC delivery of MRI and Simmons data[1]
Lawsuit
Telmar sought an injunction against MRI and Simmons in a dispute over the provision of their research data through PC-based systems and the effect on Telmar’s offering.
Sources3 sources
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