Talk:GfK Entertainment charts

What makes it "Official"
I am deeply suspect of the description "Official". Is it sanctioned or endorsed by some government or notable association ? It might be authoritative, without being official. Please expand on this.--Richardb43 (talk) 08:31, 7 March 2008 (UTC)
 * Very late answer: by now, an explanation as to how they are "official" charts can be found in the first paragraph of the article. Christian at MC GfK (talk) 16:44, 6 December 2013 (UTC)

Current logo, street address, director etc.
I'll try to clear up the back and forth over the logo and other information:

There are two companies that, until recently, regularly referred to themselves as "Media Control". One of them is Media Control GmbH & Co. KG, the other is Media Control® GfK International GmbH. Media Control GmbH & Co. KG is the original company founded by Karlheinz Kögel in 1976. Media Control® GfK International GmbH was founded in 2003 as a joint venture between Media Control GmbH & Co. KG and GfK SE (then: GfK AG).

However, this article is named "Media Control Charts" and as such should reflect who is responsible for those. Currently tasked with gathering and publishing the official German charts is Media Control® GfK International GmbH, as the article already states. Media Control GmbH & Co. KG is not currently involved. Historical information regarding Media Control GmbH & Co. KG's involvement in the German charts probably deserves at least a dedicated paragraph in the article. Maybe the company even deserves its own article, they have other projects, too. Perhaps an article for each company would be in order, to clearly delineate who does what.

Recent developments have prompted the disputed changes: In 2013, after 10 years of shared ownership, Media Control® GfK International GmbH became a wholly-owned subsidiary of GfK. Before, some offices were shared, the "Media Control" name was freely used by both entities and especially internet activities were intermingled. Today, the street address (and thus, the HQ picture), the logo, homepage link and the "Managing director of Media Control GmbH & Co. KG" all reflect things not associated with the "Media Control Charts". As such, they are going to be updated/removed again in the near future. Please refrain from reverting them again.

Since I'm aware that as an employee of the company in whose favor this article is going to be changed, this might look biased, I'll add these sources to clarify further:
 * The Federal Music Industry Association of Germany (Bundesverband Musikindustrie) clearly states Media Control® GfK International GmbH's name, street address and logo on their page describing the German charts system: http://www.musikindustrie.de/charts_system/#c229 (in German, I'm afraid; "Veröffentlichung" means "publishing"). Sadly, the internet address is not entirely correct.
 * https://www.media-control.de/impressum.html states that it is Media Control GmbH & Co. KG's homepage, including their proper street address.
 * http://www.media-control.de/media-control-gfk-int.html The first link in this page's text links to www.media-control.com.
 * http://www.media-control.com is a straight redirect to https://www.mcgfk.com, Media Control® GfK International GmbH's current homepage (including logo).
 * https://www.mcgfk.com/charts/index.php?idcatside=27&lang=4 also shows the current managing director, street address and other legal information for the company.
 * As Charts.de is also mentioned in the article, I'd like to point out that that website also clearly states Media Control® GfK International GmbH as the operator, at http://www.charts.de/impressum.asp

I'll add that the anonymous IP from which the previous edits were made is used by Media Control® GfK International GmbH's offices.

Christian at MC GfK (talk) 18:05, 6 December 2013 (UTC)


 * I take it that the anonymous IP who made this edit is you? First about the logo. Based on sources available to us, there are two logos that Media Control as an entertainment data provider (including charts) uses. The first logo which happens to be the General logo for all sectors of Information data (including TV ratings, Sports, market research as well as charts for Music, Books, DVDs and Games), comes in two different background colors but with the same overall design, is this here, which initially has a white background when first arrived at that address, then the background color turns purple after a minute or so, meaning either is ok for use. The second logo is the media control® GfK International GmbH which covers areas of Music charts, Book charts, DVD charts as well as Games charts. The latter can replace the former in our article if desired, but the first isn't incorrect. Based on all the sources available to us, we are aware of the following:


 * 1) media control® GfK International GmbH is the General name being used. It is involved in providing Entertainment data information not only in Germany but also in other parts of Europe. That name was the result of Media Control joining forces with GfK in 2003. media control® GfK International GmbH provides chart data for Music, Books, DVDs and Games.
 * 2) Originally the company was simply called Media Control founded by Karlheinz Kögel in 1976.
 * 3) The company has a division, media control GmbH & Co. KG, which has been providing TV ratings since 1992, and currently is focusing in the area of Sports.
 * 4) Baden-Baden is the headquarter of the company, which is the same address as the one shown by Bundesverband Musikindustrie. It also shows the same building as in our article. So I'm not sure why the image in this edit was removed.
 * 5) The operation manager for media control® GfK International GmbH is Ulrike Altig, who also according to the same page, happens to be of the managers for media control GmbH & Co. KG. So it seems that both media control® GfK International GmbH and media control GmbH & Co. KG are closely related with media control® GfK International GmbH being in charge of providing information on Entertainment data.
 * 6) Our article currently lists Dr. Mathias Giloth and Wolfgang Wanders as the managing directors for media control® GfK International GmbH, as it is stated here.


 * So according to all the information found in the sources, we have correct information in our article. Of course, some additional statements can be added if desired using sources. However, we don't seem to have any statements that might mislead the readers, including the logo.--Harout72 (talk) 02:42, 7 December 2013 (UTC)

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20140714204850/http://www.musikindustrie.de/uploads/media/Systembeschreibung_3_9_FINAL.pdf to http://www.musikindustrie.de/uploads/media/Systembeschreibung_3_9_FINAL.pdf

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 * Replaced link with a current one and updated the article accordingly. (Christian at GfK Entertainment (talk) 12:18, 11 January 2017 (UTC))

External links modified
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 * Added archive https://web.archive.org/web/20140707143651/http://www.gfk-entertainment.com/impressum-mainmenu-39.html to http://www.gfk-entertainment.com/impressum-mainmenu-39.html

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