IBOPE

IBOPE, short for Instituto Brasileiro de Opinião Pública e Estatística, was a Brazilian market research and public opinion company founded in 1942 by radio broadcaster Auricélio Penteado. It began after Penteado used research methods learned in the United States under George Gallup to measure the audience of his São Paulo station, Rádio Kosmos. The results showed that the station was not among the city’s most listened-to broadcasters, prompting Penteado to leave broadcasting and devote the organization to research. The company subsequently became one of Brazil’s best-known institutions for audience measurement, electoral polling, and commercial research. IBOPE’s most influential business was media measurement. It developed systematic methods for estimating radio and television audiences and became closely associated in Brazil with television ratings. The company’s name became so strongly linked with audience research that “ibope” entered common Brazilian usage as a synonym for audience ratings. Its measurement activities supplied broadcasters, advertisers, agencies, and other media-sector clients with information used to evaluate programs, allocate advertising, and assess market performance. The company also conducted public opinion polls, including voting-intention surveys, and expanded into market, consumer, brand, behavioral, Internet, and organizational research. During the late 1970s, IBOPE became prominent for electoral polling, with surveys that anticipated the results of several contests with considerable accuracy. Under the Montenegro family’s leadership, the organization broadened its research capabilities and commercial reach. IBOPE expanded internationally during the 1990s through partnerships with local entrepreneurs in Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and Argentina. These operations helped it produce consolidated information about television and cable audiences across Latin America rather than limiting its activities to Brazil. Its regional role grew particularly through media-consumption and advertising-investment data. The company was also an important technology pioneer. In 1988, it introduced a real-time television audience tracking system described as the first of its kind. Its peoplemeter-based approach collected detailed information about viewing behavior from a representative household sample, transmitting channel changes and related data for centralized processing. The system was subsequently used across Latin America and evolved beyond conventional broadcast measurement toward cross-platform viewing analysis. In 2014, IBOPE was acquired by WPP and its media-measurement activities were rebranded as Kantar IBOPE Media. The former IBOPE organization therefore no longer operates as an independent corporate brand in the form described by its historical article, although the IBOPE name remains important as a legacy identifier in Brazilian and Latin American audience research. Historical divisions also included IBOPE Inteligência, which provided market, brand, behavioral, public opinion, Internet, and strategy research; IBOPE Educação, which offered executive education and training; and IBOPE Ambiental, which supplied environmental and sustainability-related services. In 2025, Kantar Media was reported in the supplied reference material as having been acquired by H.I.G.; the transaction concerns the successor Kantar Media business rather than an independently operating IBOPE company.

IBOPE was established in Brazil in 1942 by Auricélio Penteado, who owned Rádio Kosmos in São Paulo. After studying research techniques in the United States with George Gallup, Penteado applied those methods to measure the size of his station’s radio audience. The findings were commercially disappointing: Rádio Kosmos was not one of the city’s leading stations. Rather than continue as a broadcaster, Penteado decided to dedicate himself to public opinion and audience research. In 1950, he transferred the company presidency to a group of directors. The organization gradually became a major Brazilian source of polling and media data. In the late 1970s, Paulo de Tarso Montenegro became president and brought his children, Carlos Augusto Montenegro and Luís Paulo Montenegro, into the company in 1978. IBOPE’s electoral polling gained visibility during this period, particularly through voting-intention surveys that closely anticipated the results of contests in the late 1970s. Its work helped establish the company as an authority not only in commercial research but also in public opinion measurement. Audience measurement became IBOPE’s defining activity. In 1988, the company launched a real-time television audience tracking system described as a global first. The system used peoplemeters installed in a representative sample of households to record viewing behavior at a detailed level. Information about channel changes was transmitted through the cellular network to a central processing operation, where it was converted into audience indicators for clients. The approach became a standard reference for broadcasters, advertising agencies, and advertisers and was deployed in countries throughout Latin America. IBOPE expanded outside Brazil in the 1990s by entering partnerships with entrepreneurs in Mexico, Colombia, Venezuela, Ecuador, Peru, Chile, and Argentina. These partnerships allowed it to create consolidated regional data on television and cable audiences, media consumption, and advertising investment. The business subsequently developed a broader international footprint while retaining Brazil as its historical base. In addition to audience measurement and polling, IBOPE operated or developed research capabilities covering markets, consumers, brands, behavior, the Internet, organizations, and innovation. IBOPE Inteligência supplied information used in business planning, marketing, product development, and strategy. IBOPE Educação provided executive education and professional training, while IBOPE Ambiental offered environmental and sustainability services. WPP acquired IBOPE in 2014, after which the media business was rebranded Kantar IBOPE Media. This change marked the end of IBOPE as an independent corporate identity, although the name continued to carry substantial historical recognition in Brazil. The supplied reference material further reports a 2025 acquisition of Kantar Media by H.I.G. for approximately US$1 billion. Because this later transaction concerns the successor Kantar Media organization, it should not be interpreted as evidence that an independent IBOPE company remains active.

• 2025

  Reported acquisition of Kantar Media

  [1]IBOPEen.wikipedia.org

  The supplied reference reports that H.I.G. acquired Kantar Media, the successor business connected to IBOPE’s media-measurement operations.

• 2014

  Acquisition and rebranding under Kantar

  [1]IBOPEen.wikipedia.org

  WPP acquires IBOPE and rebrands its media business as Kantar IBOPE Media.

• 1990

  Latin American expansion begins

  [1]IBOPEen.wikipedia.org

  During the 1990s, IBOPE forms partnerships across Latin America and begins supplying consolidated regional media data.

• 1988

  Real-time television measurement is introduced

  [1]IBOPEen.wikipedia.org

  IBOPE launches a peoplemeter-based real-time television audience tracking system.

• 1978

  The Montenegro family joins the company

  [1]IBOPEen.wikipedia.org

  Carlos Augusto Montenegro and Luís Paulo Montenegro join IBOPE as the organization develops its later leadership structure.

• 1977

  Paulo de Tarso Montenegro becomes president

  [1]IBOPEen.wikipedia.org

  Montenegro takes the presidency during a period in which IBOPE’s polling and research activities expand.

• 1950

  Penteado leaves the presidency

  [1]IBOPEen.wikipedia.org

  A group of directors assumes leadership after Penteado moves away from the company presidency.

• 1942

  IBOPE is founded

  [1]IBOPEen.wikipedia.org

  Auricélio Penteado establishes the organization in Brazil after applying audience-research methods to his São Paulo radio station.

A pioneering Brazilian research institution positioned around independent measurement of public opinion, media consumption, advertising markets, and consumer behavior. Its strongest historical association was with television audience ratings and the peoplemeter systems used by broadcasters and advertisers across Latin America.

• Media measurement

  Television audience measurement

  IBOPE’s best-known service measured television viewing among representative household samples. Its peoplemeter system recorded viewing behavior and supplied broadcasters, agencies, and advertisers with audience indicators used for programming and advertising decisions.

• Audience measurement technology · 1988

  Real-time peoplemeter system

  Introduced in 1988, the system tracked channel changes in near real time and transmitted household data for centralized processing. The technology enabled more granular analysis of audience behavior and was later used across Latin America.

• Market research

  IBOPE Inteligência

  A research division focused on markets, consumers, behavior, brands, public opinion, Internet use, organizational questions, innovation, and business strategy. Its studies were intended to support marketing, product development, and management decisions.

• Executive education

  IBOPE Educação

  An education and training unit serving professionals involved in strategic decision-making. It incorporated research and information produced by the wider IBOPE group into executive-learning offerings.

• Environmental services

  IBOPE Ambiental

  A business unit providing services related to environmental issues and sustainability. It represented an extension of the group beyond polling, media measurement, and conventional market research.

• 2014

  Sale to WPP and rebranding as Kantar IBOPE MediaM&A

  Background

  IBOPE had developed a substantial regional media-measurement operation and international presence.

  Action taken

  WPP acquired IBOPE and placed the media business under the Kantar IBOPE Media identity.

  Aftermath

  IBOPE ceased operating as an independent corporate brand in its historical form, while its media-measurement activities continued under Kantar.

  Source

• 1988

  Launch of real-time television audience trackingProduct launch

  Background

  Broadcasters and advertisers needed faster and more detailed information about television viewing.

  Action taken

  IBOPE introduced a peoplemeter-based system that collected and transmitted household viewing changes for centralized processing.

  Aftermath

  The system became a major part of IBOPE’s media-measurement identity and was adopted across Latin America.

  Source

• 1942

  Shift from radio broadcasting to researchStrategy

  Background

  Audience research showed that Rádio Kosmos, owned by founder Auricélio Penteado, was not among São Paulo’s most listened-to stations.

  Action taken

  Penteado abandoned his primary broadcasting focus and dedicated the organization to market, public opinion, and audience research.

  Aftermath

  The decision established the research identity that ultimately made IBOPE a leading Brazilian and Latin American measurement brand.

  Source

1. 1IBOPEen.wikipedia.org