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FreeWheel Releases Next Generation, Cross-Platform Addressable Technology to Unify Linear TV and Digital Video Advertising

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FreeWheel, a Comcast Company, has introduced a pioneering technology that enables addressable video advertising on both digital and linear TV platforms. This innovation allows advertisers to utilize aggregated data for targeted campaigns from a unified platform. Currently in pilot with Comcast and Charter, it marks the industry's first comprehensive addressable audience targeting solution across all screens. The technology enhances advertisers' ability to reach specific audiences while improving measurement of campaign performance. FreeWheel plans to extend this offering to other MVPDs later this year.

Positive
  • Introduction of a groundbreaking audience addressable technology for integrated TV and video advertising.
  • Ability to execute audience-level targeting on traditional linear set-top boxes with real-time ad decisioning.
  • Improves advertisers' ability to reach customized audiences and measure campaign performance effectively.
  • Provides additional impressions for advertisers, enhancing overall campaign effectiveness.
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Today, FreeWheel, a Comcast Company, announced a significant milestone in digital and linear TV convergence: the rollout of a new technology that allows sellers to deliver video advertising, using aggregated and de-identified data, on an addressable basis across platforms from a central decisioning platform. Through this solution, a single linear TV advertising avail can be utilized by different advertisers, a form of advertising known as audience addressable. The technology is currently being piloted by Comcast and Charter Communications to enable cross-platform, deduplicated addressable advertising.

FreeWheel’s audience addressable technology is an important innovation for both FreeWheel and the industry as a whole. This release marks the first time a company has been able to offer true, multiplatform, addressable audience targeting across all screens, including linear TV, using FreeWheel technology.

“At FreeWheel, we’re dedicated to making the TV buying process simpler, and in many cases, that means making it more like buying digital,” said Dave Clark, General Manager, FreeWheel. “This is a true addressable linear solution that makes TV advertising more targetable and more measurable, while simultaneously opening up the scale of available addressable impressions. This capability will change the way both sellers and buyers approach integrated TV and video advertising.”

FreeWheel’s new technology allows advertisers to execute audience-level addressable targeting on a traditional linear (QAM) set-top box using real-time ad decisioning and consistent with privacy obligations, opening up a broader range of available impressions. Previously, addressable TV campaigns would only use a portion of targeted impressions from a given ad avail; the remainder would generally be used for promotional spots, PSAs, or direct response advertising. Or, in some cases, if the unused impressions fit the desired criteria, they could be scheduled for another advertiser. With this new audience addressable solution, the addressable campaign is executed from one platform with a single unified decisioning engine—FreeWheel’s MRM platform—that can make the most informed ad decision for an advertiser’s business, taking into account yield and business rules.

“This new solution delivers addressable, cross-platform campaigns on both digital and linear screens, fulfilling true video unification,” said David Kline, Executive Vice President at Charter Communications, and President of Spectrum Reach. “It’s what TV buyers and sellers alike have been striving for over the past several years, and now it’s here.”

For inventory owners like Comcast and Charter, FreeWheel’s addressable technology provides the ability to deliver deduplicated reach to advertisers and opens up additional impressions for possible use in other addressable campaigns, a benefit when targeting specific audience segments. For advertisers, this improves their ability to reach more customized audiences and measure overall performance results for their cross-platform TV and video campaigns.

“This solution will enhance our ability to deliver target audiences in a more unified fashion across linear and streaming TV,” said James Rooke, General Manager, Effectv. “We know that addressability is an important tactic in terms of being able to deliver more efficient incremental reach and improved overall campaign performance. We look forward to now scaling this capability as part of our broader focus on deploying audience-based, multi-screen marketing solutions for our clients.”

While Comcast and Charter are the first inventory owners to offer this technology to their buyers, it will be available to other MVPDs later this year.

About FreeWheel
FreeWheel, A Comcast Company, empowers all segments of The New TV Ecosystem. We are structured to provide the full breadth of solutions the advertising industry needs to achieve their goals. We provide the technology, data enablement, and convergent marketplaces required to ensure buyers and sellers can transact across all screens, across all data types, and all sales channels, in order to ensure the ultimate goal – results for marketers.

With offices in New York, San Francisco, Chicago, London, Paris, Beijing, and across the globe, FreeWheel, A Comcast Company, stands to advocate for the entire industry through the FreeWheel Council for Premium Video. For more information, please visit freewheel.com, and follow us on Twitter and LinkedIn.

FAQ

What is FreeWheel's new technology announced on April 14, 2021?

FreeWheel announced a new audience addressable technology that allows for targeted video advertising across digital and linear TV platforms, enabling advertisers to utilize aggregated data.

Which companies are piloting FreeWheel's new advertising technology?

Comcast and Charter Communications are currently piloting FreeWheel's new audience addressable technology.

When will FreeWheel's addressable technology be available to other MVPDs?

FreeWheel plans to make its addressable technology available to other MVPDs later in 2021.

How does FreeWheel's new solution simplify the TV advertising process?

The new solution simplifies TV advertising by providing a single platform for executing addressable campaigns, making it more similar to digital advertising.

What benefits does FreeWheel's technology offer to advertisers?

FreeWheel's technology enables advertisers to reach specific audiences more effectively and measure overall campaign performance across digital and linear platforms.

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