DISH Media taps FreeWheel for both traditional and addressable linear TV

DISH Media Taps FreeWheel to Optimize Across Traditional Demo-Based and Addressable Linear TV

NEW YORK — Today, FreeWheel, A Comcast Company (Nasdaq: CMCSA), announced that DISH Media will partner with FreeWheel to enable linear inventory allocation and a holistic view of TV advertising performance across both traditional, demo-based buys and household-level, addressable TV campaigns.

FreeWheel developed this industry leading solution to meet a growing need among distributors and programmers for unification between the various TV buying opportunities now available to advertisers, including the rise of addressable linear TV.

Why Is This an Important Advancement for the Industry?

Typically, a distributor uses one technology platform to manage and schedule its linear TV spot inventory, and another technology platform to manage its dynamically inserted addressable inventory. These different technology platforms manage inventory in very different ways – namely full spots for linear TV and impressions against targets for addressable TV. This has led to friction between the two advertising models – resulting in supply and pricing conflicts, clearance issues for pre-emptible campaigns, and inconsistent delivery of addressable campaigns. FreeWheel’s unified approach allows distributors to holistically consider the full pool of demand for both sets of inventory and optimize accordingly.

“A unified view of inventory allows us to help advertisers as they look to use TV’s full-funnel capabilities – everything from national linear to targeted, addressable,” said Kevin Arrix, senior vice president of DISH Media Sales. “FreeWheel’s solution can help assure we have the inventory to meet both rating and impression goals, for linear and addressable, while also helping control reach and frequency, which translates to a better experience for the viewer.”

Effective linear inventory allocation tools must help the distributor to use its limited inventory in the most efficient way possible. FreeWheel’s solution takes in a variety of inputs, such as inventory availability, viewership forecasts and sales order data, to help distributors manage their inventory and ensure advertisers are meeting their media goals.

“Making addressable advertising more viable is important to the industry. Distributors need to maximize inventory value, while also reducing manual workflow and improving operational workflows. This ensures marketers’ campaigns are optimally paced and reach their targeted audiences in the most efficient way possible. A unified approach to inventory management, including the growing number of addressable campaigns, is key to achieving this goal,” said FreeWheel General Manager Dave Clark.