Comcast's FreeWheel Media Is Bringing the "Now" to the Upfronts

That39s why Brian Wallach pictured above right Senior Vice President of Comcast39s FreeWheel Media says that the event his company is hosting for around 150 key industry executivesamp160is called the NowFrontamp160 quotThere are a lot of other companies out there working on solving buyers39amp160problems and showing them what they39re building towards what the industry can look forward to soonquot he explainsamp160 quotThe difference is at FreeWheel we39re talking to buyers about products that are available todayamp160 Our market positioning is 39Now you can39amp160 While we39re always innovating for the future FreeWheel Media is not about what39s 39coming soon39amp160 We are bringing audiencebased datadriven media to marketers right nowquotIt39s a product that has been years in the makingamp160 Once a collection of adtech companies assembled and nurtured by Comcast FreeWheel is now comprised of three business unitsamp160 FreeWheel Publishers works with media sales organizations including MVPDs programmers and digital publishers providing linear and digital technology to support those publishers39 ad sales businessesamp160 FreeWheel Advertisers manages technology for agencies helping them to plan and buy across screensamp160 FreeWheel Marketsamp160represents the pool of converged TV and premium video inventory that sits in between those other two business unitsamp160 It is designed so that buyers and sellers can connect directly on different transaction types and on all the relevant screens for video from linear television through OTT tablet mobile and othersNeil Smith pictured above left General Manager and Senior Vice President of FreeWheel Markets who has been with the company since 2012 points out that while advertisers may be able to access some of their marketplace39s inventory from other sales organizations by working with the Markets teamamp160they also get access to data and measurement solutionsamp160 quotWe help advertisers gain a deeper understanding of audiences whether they are viewing on linear TV in their living room or on a digitally connected device in or out of their homesquot he saysamp160 quotWe have access to a large footprint of householdlevel data from various sources and it39s really differentiating our offering and adding valuequotquotIt39s important to remind your readers that our offering is complementary to publishers39 own sales effortsquot Smith addedamp160 quotOur intent isnamp8217t to shift budgets away from their direct sales teamsamp160 Itamp8217s to help them access budgets they canamp8217t get in cases where advertisers need aggregated audiences amp160and enough scale to reach targeted audiencesamp160amp160The goal is to reclaim what were traditionally television budgets that were headed to digital mediaamp160 Ultimately we39re trying to create the best matches of supply and demand to drive the marketplace and make it as easy as possible to transactquotFor Wallach the key is the benefits that advertisers will see as they add FreeWheel Media solutions and video inventory to their national buysamp160 quotWe don39t operate in the world of longtail digital video where there are brandsafety and fraud concernsquot he saysamp160 quotOur inventory is premium and while we39re aggregating inventoryamp160we39re very transparent around the types of publishers you39ll see in our solutionsamp160 We have the scale that produces outcomes whether signups or registrations or sales or more product usage or new customers amp160and when combined with data and insights we39re able to help brands be as effective as possible with every dollar that they spendquotquotThat39s the reason we39re entering the Upfront season this yearquot Smith interjectedamp160 quotWe39ve been selling these kinds of audiencebased datadriven solutions now for a couple of years and they need to be part of the Upfront discussion because they39re scarceamp160 There39s only a certain amount of a certain audience on say an OTT platformamp160 With marketers increasingly more interested in reaching those audiences they need to start thinking about mitigating risks to access those by buying in the same way they do with their traditional television investmentsquotWallach39s team comprised of executives with backgrounds at national programmers and agencies and aggregators and programmatic companies is equipped to make transactions easy for every type of buyer and will all be at the NowFront eventamp160 Speakers at the event include Marcien Jenckes President Advertising Comcast Cable FreeWheel executives Claudio Marcus General Manager Data Platform Dave Clark Executive Vice President and General Manager of FreeWheel and Smith and Wallach along with executives from Data Plus Math Nielsen Horizon Media and othersamp160 Wallach and Smith also promise a touch of celebrity with one panel being led by podcast creator Guy Raz host of the podcasts TED Radio Hour and How I Built Thisamp160 One panel at the morning event will focus on data and another will discuss how brands with cultures of innovation are building the future of TVamp160in a quotNow You Canquot worldClick the social buttons above or below to share this story with your friends and colleaguesThe opinions and points of view expressed in this content are exclusively the views of the author andor subjects and do not necessarily represent the views of MediaVillagecomMyersBizNet Inc management or associated writers

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Comcast's FreeWheel Media Is Bringing the "Now" to the Upfronts

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Kathy Newberger

"About That with Carl Mayer": Involved Media Connected Audience Fall 2024 Report (Episode 5) - By Carl Mayer

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Comcast's FreeWheel Media Is Bringing the "Now" to the Upfronts

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Kathy Newberger

"About That with Carl Mayer": Involved Media Connected Audience Fall 2024 Report (Episode 5) - By Carl Mayer

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