Turner’s FreeWheel Deal Could Be ‘Glue’ for TV Everywhere
1.20.10
AdAge
With VEVO, Other Distribution Agreements in Place, Ad Server Is at the Center of the New Video Economy
NEW YORK (AdAge.com) -- Turner Broadcasting System adopted a new ad server which may also play a key role in Time Warner's TV Everywhere initiative.
Turner inked a deal with FreeWheel that will serve video ads for online properties such as CNN.com, PGA.com, NASCAR.com and NBA.com. In addition, it gives Time Warner a solution for how to serve ads into long-form TV, which it will soon begin to distribute online.
Time Warner's TV Everywhere initiative, now being tested in several markets, allows cable customers to "authenticate" in order to gain access to shows they're already paying for as part of a cable subscription. Turner will distribute those shows with advertising -- much as it does on TV -- and the new system will allow it to insert those ads into shows across the web, whether it's a show from TBS or a news clip from CNN.
Enabling 'TV Everywhere'
"When we look out on the horizon on TV Everywhere, it allows us to tie the pieces together -- it is the glue that allows us to insert ads in an authenticated model," said Walker Jacobs, senior-VP, Turner Sports and Entertainment.
Initially, Turner is syncing its web video on FreeWheel's platform, allowing Turner to control what ads are shown to whom on its own sites, but also distribution partners like Yahoo and YouTube. The system allows Turner to get credit for a view on a third-party site, like Yahoo, while the distributor gets credit for any display ad impressions around the video.
FreeWheel also handles ad revenue splits with distributors, streamlining the complex economics of each deal. But for Turner, the deal means it can sell its own ads and insert them wherever their video is embedded or syndicated. "We can exclusively represent our brands wherever they exist," Mr. Jacobs said.
In addition to Turner, FreeWheel recently added Vevo, the joint venture between Universal Music Group, Sony Music Entertainment and Abu Dhabi Media Company. Specifically, FreeWheel enables Vevo's business model by allowing the joint venture to serve its own ads into videos watched on YouTube.
The company, dreamed up by ex-DoubleClick execs and founded in 2007, has tied up video ad serving for an expanding group of media companies, including Warner Music Group, CBS and Discovery, as well as startups like blip.tv. Among its competitors are Auditude, which has a deal with Viacom, and DoubleClick itself, which has its In-Stream video ad server.
