Comcast-owned programmatic video arm FreeWheel has completed the first stage of a technology unification initiative with co-owned NBCUniversal (NBCU).
It’s designed to extend FreeWheel’s ad decisioning capabilities to traditional TV inventory—a big step in bringing addressable advertising to broadcast TV while bolstering cable TV’s capabilities.
The first stage of the technology unification plan focused on building the connections between NBCU’s digital and linear ad delivery technologies, laying the foundation that will enable NBCU to more effectively sell and execute inventory across all screens in a unified fashion, a long-standing goal for the industry.
“Every solution we create should make the advertising ecosystem more accessible to any advertiser,” Comcast notes. “Buying on television should be as simple as turning on your television.”
Dave Clark, GM of FreeWheel, adds, “Linear has been the missing piece in the one order, one report solution that marketers need. The results of the work on linear schedule optimization using our digital ad decisioning capabilities were extremely encouraging and an important first proof point of the value of connecting NBCU’s linear and digital systems.
What excites Clark the most is the long-term implications for both publishers and advertisers, and what it means to the ultimate vision of a unified video strategy across all screens.
Having demonstrated the value of using FreeWheel’s decisioning technology for optimizing linear schedules for age/gender ratings, FreeWheel and NBCU will roll out the capability across its channels throughout 2019.
The two companies are also working toward enabling delivery based on additional criteria chosen by the advertiser — such as delivery against a particular data segment, or delivery of a specific KPI — as the industry moves toward more audience-based, results-driven advertising.
The next stage of the unification program will include the ability to optimize campaigns in-flight across linear and digital, optimize between direct sold and programmatic channels and enable household addressability. Both companies see these as critical to increasing the accessibility of television to new advertisers through greater automation while improving campaign performance.
This initiative aligns with NBCU’s overall mission to help create an ecosystem that is easier, simpler and more accessible for all advertisers.
“When an advertiser places a schedule with us across any of our video properties, it needs to be easy to execute and seamless to measure consistently across platforms,” said NBCU EVP of Business Operations and Strategy Krishan Bhatia. “Every solution we create should make the advertising ecosystem more accessible to any advertiser. Buying on television should be as simple as turning on your television.”
