Goodwill and Intangible Assets

9 Months Ended

Sep. 30, 2011

Note 6 — Goodwill and Intangible Assets

Goodwill

Goodwill represents the excess of the purchase price of acquired businesses over the estimated fair value of the tangible and identifiable intangible net assets acquired. The evaluation of goodwill is performed in accordance with FASB ASC Topic 350, which requires an annual assessment of potential goodwill impairment at the reporting unit level. A reporting unit can be an operating segment or a business if discrete financial information is prepared and reviewed by management. The Company has three reporting units: Research, Consulting, and Events.

In September 2011, the FASB issued Accounting Standards Update (“ASU”) No. 2011-08, Intangibles-Goodwill and Other – Testing Goodwill for Impairment (“ASU No. 2011-08”). ASU No. 2011-08 permits an entity to make a qualitative assessment of whether it is more likely than not that a reporting unit’s fair value is less than its carrying amount before automatically applying the two-step goodwill impairment test, which has been the required test since 2002. If it is concluded that this is the case, it is necessary to perform the currently prescribed two-step goodwill impairment test to determine the amount, if any, of impaired goodwill. Otherwise, the two-step goodwill impairment test is not required. The objective of ASU No. 2011-08 is to both simplify and reduce the on-going cost of goodwill impairment testing for both private and public companies. On September 30, 2011, the Company early adopted ASU No. 2011-08 and conducted a qualitative assessment of reporting unit goodwill. The Company concluded that the fair value of its reporting units was in excess of their carrying amounts, and the Company did not conduct the two-step goodwill impairment test. As a result, the adoption of ASU No. 2011-08 did not impact the Company’s results of operations, cash flows, or financial position.

The following table presents changes to the carrying amount of goodwill by reporting unit during the nine months ended September 30, 2011 (in thousands):


	Research			Consulting		Events		Total

Balance, December 31, 2010 (1)	$	368,521		$	99,817	$	41,927	$	510,265
Foreign currency translation adjustments		(69	)		17		14		(38	)

Balance, September 30, 2011	$	368,452		$	99,834	$	41,941	$	510,227


(1)	The Company does not have any accumulated goodwill impairment losses.

Amortizable Intangible Assets

The following tables present the carrying amounts of amortizable intangible assets as of the periods indicated (in thousands):


September 30, 2011	Content			Trade Name			Customer Relationships			Total

Gross cost	$	10,634		$	5,758		$	7,210		$	23,602
Accumulated amortization		(10,634	)		(2,015	)		(3,155	)		(15,804	)

Net	$	—		$	3,743		$	4,055		$	7,798


December 31, 2010	Content			Trade Name			Customer Relationships			Total

Gross cost	$	10,634		$	5,758		$	7,210		$	23,602
Accumulated amortization		(7,089	)		(1,152	)		(1,777	)		(10,018	)

Net	$	3,545		$	4,606		$	5,433		$	13,584

The Company’s amortizable intangible assets are charged against earnings over the following periods:


	Content		Trade Name		Customer Relationships

Useful Life (Years)		1.5		5		4

Aggregate amortization expense related to intangible assets was $0.7 million and $2.5 million for the three months ended September 30, 2011 and 2010, respectively, and $5.8 million and $8.0 million for the nine months ended September 30, 2011 and 2010, respectively.

The estimated future amortization expense by year from amortizable intangibles is as follows (in thousands):


2011 (remaining three months)	$	744
2012		2,955
2013		2,955
2014		1,144

	$	7,798

- Definition

The entire disclosure for the aggregate amount of goodwill and a description of intangible assets, which may include (a) for amortizable intangible assets (also referred to as finite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, the amount of any significant residual value, and the weighted-average amortization period, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization (also referred to as indefinite-lived intangible assets), the carrying amount, and (c) the amount of research and development assets acquired and written off in the period, including the line item in the income statement in which the amounts written off are aggregated, if not readily apparent from the income statement. Also discloses (a) for amortizable intangibles assets in total and by major class, the gross carrying amount and accumulated amortization, the total amortization expense for the period, and the estimated aggregate amortization expense for each of the five succeeding fiscal years, (b) for intangible assets not subject to amortization the carrying amount in total and by major class, and (c) for goodwill, in total and for each reportable segment, the changes in the carrying amount of goodwill during the period (including the aggregate amount of goodwill acquired, the aggregate amount of impairment losses recognized, and the amount of goodwill included in the gain (loss) on disposal of a reporting unit). If any part of goodwill has not been allocated to a reportable segment, discloses the unallocated amount and the reasons for not allocating. For each impairment loss recognized related to an intangible asset (excluding goodwill), discloses: (a) a description of the impaired intangible asset and the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method for determining fair value, (c) the caption in the income statement or the statement of activities in which the impairment loss is aggregated, and (d) the segment in which the impaired intangible asset is reported. For each goodwill impairment loss recognized, discloses: (a) a description of the facts and circumstances leading to the impairment, (b) the amount of the impairment loss and the method of determining the fair value of the associated reporting unit, and (c) if a recognized impairment loss is an estimate not finalized and the reasons why the estimate is not final. May also disclose the nature and amount of any significant adjustments made to a previous estimate of an impairment loss.

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