LV company buys online ticket, room selling operation

Thursday, March 14, 2002 | 11:07 a.m.

A local company that provides market research, polling and audience testing on movie trailers, TV shows and commercials has bought a company that sells tickets to Las Vegas shows and books hotel reservations over the Internet.

MRCGroup Research Institute, which has been in business in Las Vegas for six years, announced Wednesday that it acquired Studio 11 Productions. Terms of the deal were not disclosed.

MRCGroup has rebranded the new operation as MRCStudio11. MRCGroup Chief Executive Officer Jim Medick said Studio 11 has two primary products, its Custom On-Line Ticketing System (COLTS) and Custom On-Line Room Reservation System (COLRRS).

Medick said the COLTS and COLRRS operations differ from other Internet ticket sales and reservations providers by giving more detailed information, pictures and video from shows and hotel rooms being sold.

Studio 11 had three full-time employees who were merged into MRCGroup's operations when the acquisition occurred. The company now has 275 employees.

The company's market research and polling operation solicits Las Vegas visitors and local residents to view and rate a variety of movie scenes, television pilots and commercials in the company's 48-seat movie theater at Convention Center Drive near the Las Vegas Strip.

The company will sell and license its COLT and COLRRS software to customers or contract for a percentage of revenue generated in ticket sales and hotel reservations.