FreeWheel and A+E Networks Partner to Pilot Unified Video Ad Management Platform Across Direct Sold and Programmatic Demand
April 17 2019 - 12:10PM
Business Wire
New technology innovation ensures TV-level
compliance and quality viewer experience across direct and
programmatic marketplace buys
Offers advertisers control and transparency
across all buying channels
Today, FreeWheel, A Comcast Company (Nasdaq: CMCSA), announced
its partnership with A+E Networks, a global content company
comprised of some of the most popular and culturally relevant
brands in media including A&E®, Lifetime® and HISTORY®, to
pilot their unified ad decisioning engine that will allow buyers
and sellers to seamlessly transact across both direct sold and
programmatic, marketplace-generated advertising demand.
This press release features multimedia. View
the full release here:
https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190417005676/en/
What this means:
Typically, a video publisher uses one tech platform to manage
and schedule its direct sold inventory, and another tech platform,
or an SSP, to manage its programmatic demand from open exchanges
and DSPs. This has led to clashes and conflicts between the two
sales channels – resulting in pricing conflicts, TV-compliance
issues and negative user experience impacts. FreeWheel’s unified
decision engine allows A+E Networks to holistically consider the
full pool of demand, including direct sold buys, and optimize
across all business rules and requirements. This is important
because a video ad decision cannot be determined solely on the
highest bid price. An effective video ad decision must also
consider TV-level compliance parameters, such as competitive and
category separation requirements and user experience
considerations, such as ad repetition and relevance.
“Holistic decisioning across sales channels helps buyers,
sellers and the industry as a whole by reducing marketplace
friction,” said Dave Clark, General Manager of FreeWheel. “Our
pioneering work with A+E Networks focuses on uniting their various
video sales channels to help them make the best choices for all
advertisers, regardless of how the ads are purchased. This work
parallels and enhances FreeWheel’s overarching efforts to offer
holistic, cross-screen ad management across all video, from digital
and OTT, to linear TV.”
“We are focused on two key priorities: creating and maintaining
a viewer experience that leads to loyalty within our consumers, and
delivering an optimal ad experience for our advertising clients and
partners,” said Jason DeMarco, VP, Programmatic and Audience
Solutions, A+E Networks. “FreeWheel’s Unified Ad Management allows
A+E Networks to maximize both of these efforts within our digital
footprint by improving ad frequency and combining the benefits
of programmatic buying with the assurances of compliance and
standards of quality.”
A+E Networks’ efforts with FreeWheel on unified ad management
adds to the network’s track record of innovation for its
advertisers. A+E Networks was one of the first media companies to
embrace programmatic platforms in an effort to offer greater
addressability and accessibility to advertisers. In addition, in
last year’s TV upfront season, A+E used audience-based buying to
guarantee business outcomes. This pilot is designed to expand upon
that by supporting programmatic guaranteed buys.
FreeWheel plans to expand its unified programmatic pilot program
to other clients throughout 2019.
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 www.freewheel.tv, and follow us
on Twitter and LinkedIn.
About A+E Networks
A+E Networks® is a global content company comprised of some of
the most popular and culturally relevant brands in media including
A&E®, Lifetime®, HISTORY®, Lifetime Movies, FYI™, VICELAND®,
Blaze™ and Crime+Investigation®. A+E Networks’ portfolio extends
across platforms and genres, with a long-form production division,
A+E Studios™; film division, A&E IndieFilms®; long-form
unscripted production unit, A+E Originals™; and A+E Digital®,
encompassing watch apps, games and SVOD initiatives including
Lifetime Movie Club and HISTORY Vault. A+E Networks’ channels and
branded programming reach more than 335 million households in over
200 territories in 42 languages. A+E Networks has offices in the
United States, the United Kingdom, Germany, Italy, Japan, Korea and
Singapore. A+E Networks is a joint venture of Disney-ABC Television
Group and Hearst. Follow us on Twitter at twitter.com/aenetworks
and Facebook at facebook.com/AENetworks
View source
version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20190417005676/en/
FreeWheel:Elaine Wong, 929-388-9098elaine_wong@comcast.com
Meredith Fitzgerald,
610-350-3348meredith_fitzgerald@comcast.com
A+E Networks:Vicky Kahn,
212-210-9743vicky.kahn@aenetworks.com
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