Company Announcements

FreeWheel Streaming Hub Further Unifies Capabilities to Increase Transparency Across Programmatic Ecosystem Including A+E, DIRECTV, Locality, Roku, Spectrum Reach, Warner Bros. Discovery and more

NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Apr. 29, 2025-- Today FreeWheel, a global technology platform built for the streaming advertising industry, introduced new capabilities to its industry leading software that strengthen the connection between buyers and sellers to improve the entire ad-supported TV experience. New tools in the FreeWheel Streaming Hub include advanced platform customizations, improved data signals and optimized bidding. As the largest CTV marketplace, FreeWheel is focused on simplifying media buying to allow more advertisers to find their audiences across premium video.

“At FreeWheel, our goal is singular: how can we deliver positive business outcomes for our partners across the streaming ecosystem,” says Mark McKee, General Manager at FreeWheel. “It’s why we integrated our programmatic and direct capabilities more than half a decade ago, and why today we are sharing we have further streamlined and enhanced our offerings so more advertisers can connect with more premium publishers to deliver a thoughtful brand and viewing experience.”

Because the FreeWheel SSP is directly integrated into Streaming Hub, FreeWheel’s enhancements are growing the premium streaming marketplace and making it a more effective platform to connect advertisers and publishers. Another upgrade is dynamic floor pricing which gives additional flexibility to match advertisers with publishers while maintaining enhanced control and ensuring efficiency, transparency, and precise targeting for advertisers.

“Roku offers the premium content that is crucial for advertisers,” says Miles Fisher, Senior Director, Strategic Advertising Partnerships at Roku. “We strive to meet buyers where they want to transact and our partnership with FreeWheel makes it even easier for them to work with us.”

While data-driven insights have become a critical component of TV advertising, discrepancies in quality have posed challenges for both buyers and sellers. Enacting standard signals across all content sources makes it easier for advertisers to find audiences, at scale, across platforms. When enriching these insights with Comcast data through the FreeWheel Identity Network, which integrates leading identity solutions with first-party identity data, FreeWheel is enabling efficient audience targeting that delivers more demand back to publishers.

“Spectrum Reach’s integration with FreeWheel makes it even easier for programmatic buyers to access our premium inventory at scale within their preferred demand-side platform,” said Rob Klippel, Senior Vice President of Product, Technology and Operations at Spectrum Reach, the advertising sales business of Charter Communications. “Powered by our privacy-focused, addressable data and unmatched household reach, advertisers can effectively connect with potential customers and drive real results.”

"FreeWheel's enhanced capabilities within their Streaming Hub allow us to deliver more precise audience targeting while maximizing efficiencies across DIRECTV’s premium inventory. We're particularly excited about how these improvements will help us continue to connect advertisers to engaged viewers across our platform, creating a more seamless advertising experience for viewers and marketers alike,” says Matt Van Houten, SVP, Product, Operations, and Business Development, DIRECTV Advertising.

"Through A+E Global’s partnership with FreeWheel, we're expanding our addressable inventory capabilities, enabling advertisers to deliver smarter, data-driven targeted placements across our entire content portfolio,” says Tyler DeNicola, Vice President Programmatic Revenue and Partnerships, A+E Networks. “This precision targeting not only enhances our monetization potential but, most importantly, creates a more relevant and engaging audience experience."

As live events solidify their place in the streaming universe, FreeWheel is investing in the tools needed to ensure a seamless ad experience during these high-pressure moments. From adjusted campaign pacing, viewership surge anticipation, and expanded advertiser diversity, publishers and brands can both be confident they are enhancing the viewing experience with their advertising offerings.

“Live sports continue to be one of the most powerful draws in streaming, due to audience loyalty and high engagement rates,” says Keith Kazerman, President of Streaming at Locality. “With FreeWheel, we’re creating new pathways for local advertisers to access premium, addressable live sports inventory that has traditionally been out of reach.”

About FreeWheel:

FreeWheel 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, 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 Instagram and LinkedIn

A+E Global Media^™, a joint venture of Disney-ABC Television Group and Hearst, is an innovative, multiplatform content powerhouse that reaches audiences everywhere and is comprised of some of the most popular and culturally relevant brands in media, including A&E®, Lifetime®, The HISTORY Channel™, LMN®, FYI®, Home.Made.Nation™ and VICE TV®. Our audiences extend to more than 414 million households in 200+ territories and in 40+ languages. With over 70,000 distinct assets available around the world, the company produces best-in-class content across the multiplatform landscape. A+E Global Media boasts full-scale production capabilities with A+E Studios^® and A+E Factual Studios™. A+E Digital encompasses Websites, Apps, social media, short form content, AVOD offerings; and SVOD products A&E Crime Central™, HISTORY Vault^® and Lifetime Movie Club^™ and 60+ FAST channels from the company’s wildly popular library. A+E Global Media is headquartered in the United States, with owned & operated entities in Japan, Korea, Southeast Asia, and a joint venture in LATAM. Follow us on LinkedIn, Instagram, X and Facebook.

About Charter:

Charter Communications, Inc. (NASDAQ:CHTR) is a leading broadband connectivity company and cable operator with services available to nearly 57 million homes and businesses in 41 states through its Spectrum brand. Over an advanced communications network, the Company offers a full range of state-of-the-art residential and business services including Spectrum Internet^®, TV, Mobile and Voice. More information about Charter can be found at corporate.charter.com

About Locality:

Locality is the industry's preeminent local television solutions provider, committed to addressing the evolving needs of advertisers by unlocking the power of local and driving dollars to the local video marketplace. Locality brings together the best talent in both broadcast and streaming helping brands tap into the mindset of the local consumer and precisely reach optimal markets. Having served more than 6,000 advertisers, to date, Locality offers the best premium inventory that the industry has to offer to help brands optimize their spend and target audiences at scale with direct access to over 150+ streaming publishers and 400+ local broadcast stations. Our team operates from 11 locations across the U.S. designed to strategically service 100% of DMAs.

About Roku, Inc.:

Roku pioneered streaming on TV. We connect users to the content they love, enable content publishers to build and monetize large audiences, and provide advertisers with unique capabilities to engage consumers. Roku TV™ models, Roku streaming players, and TV-related audio devices are available in various countries around the world through direct retail sales and/or licensing arrangements with TV OEM brands. Roku-branded TVs and Roku Smart Home products are sold exclusively in the United States. Roku also operates The Roku Channel, the home of free and premium entertainment with exclusive access to Roku Originals, and the #3 app on our platform by both reach and engagement. The Roku Channel is available in the United States, Canada, Mexico, and the United Kingdom. Roku is headquartered in San Jose, Calif., U.S.A.

About Warner Bros. Discovery

Warner Bros. Discovery is a leading global media and entertainment company that creates and distributes the world's most differentiated and complete portfolio of branded content across television, film, streaming and gaming. Available in more than 220 countries and territories and 50 languages, Warner Bros. Discovery inspires, informs and entertains audiences worldwide through its iconic brands and products including: Discovery Channel, Max, discovery+, CNN, DC, TNT Sports, Eurosport, HBO, HGTV, Food Network, OWN, Investigation Discovery, TLC, Magnolia Network, TNT, TBS, truTV, Travel Channel, MotorTrend, Animal Planet, Science Channel, Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, Warner Bros. Television Group, Warner Bros. Pictures Animation, Warner Bros. Games, New Line Cinema, Cartoon Network, Adult Swim, Turner Classic Movies, Discovery en Español, Hogar de HGTV and others. For more information, please visit www.wbd.com.

View source version on businesswire.com: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250429308415/en/

Media:
Emily C. Miller
Comcast Advertising
Emily_Miller@comcast.com

Source: FreeWheel