Ericsson has announced plans to acquire a TV-data company called FYI Television as it looks to bolster its fast-expanding TV and media business.

Based in Texas, FYI Television analyzes content and scheduling data from more than 9,000 TV networks on a daily basis. It then provides the information in customized formats for clients offering TV, mobile, Internet and print services.

Ericsson AB (Nasdaq: ERIC) reckons consumers are feeling increasingly bewildered by the growing range of TV and video services, highlighting the need for what it calls "content discovery" technologies.

The Swedish vendor already claims to have taken a leading position in this area in Europe. By adding FYI's US-market capabilities, it hopes to develop its offering into a "global force."

"FYI Television's expertise and customer base in the US is a great complementary fit for Ericsson and will be an integral part of our growth strategy," said Magnus Mandersson, the head of global services for Ericsson, in a company statement.

Ericsson has not disclosed what it will pay for FYI but expects to close the deal by the end of March.

Staff at the company will join Ericsson's broadcast and media services business line -- itself a part of the vendor's global services business unit.

The move comes soon after Ericsson began providing closed captioning services to international broadcasters from a new broadcast media and services hub in Atlanta, Georgia.

Ericsson says it is planning to roll out video description services in the next few months.

On January 21, the company is set to unveil a new video data analysis tool during a media and analyst briefing.

TV and media forms one of Ericsson's "targeted growth areas" from which it reported year-on-year sales growth of 10% in the July-to-September quarter.

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— Iain Morris, , News Editor, Light Reading