It is now possible to insert ads directly on 25 percent of all usable, connected televisions. And within two years, it is expected between 50 and 75 percent of connected TVs will be able to accept ads directly. Read More
FreeWheel is teaming up with This Technology LLC to let cable networks manage dynamic VOD ads from within the FreeWheel system. Under the nonexclusive agreement, This Technology is currently developing a plug-in for its SpotLink interconnect software for VOD ad placement that supports the full functionality of FreeWheel's Monetization Rights Management system. Programmers will also be able to consolidate VOD DAI ad inventory with online video ad inventory within the FreeWheel system. Read More
IGN Entertainment, a media, digital distribution, and game technology company, and a division of News Corporation, recently announced that it will incorporate FreeWheel's Revenue & Payments Management (RPM) system to bring together reporting across syndication channels. Read More
We’re watching more Web videos than ever: More than 42 billion a month in the U.S. And we’re watching more Web video ads, too. That seems like an obvious correlation. But, until recently, that wasn’t the case, for a couple reasons. Some Web video sites had held back a bit from shoving ads in front of users’ faces, for fear of scaring them off. And lots of folks who wanted to buy video ads couldn’t find places they wanted to place them. This is changing now, and that means the Web video business might finally be catching up to the long-running Web video boom. Read More
Viewers of online and mobile video are being bombarded by a seemingly endless fusillade of ads, and while clutter does no one any favors, completion rates are holding steady. According to a new report from the video monetization firm FreeWheel, video ad views are growing at a faster rate than content views. Read More
Diane Yu sees a $160 billion worldwide TV market opportunity for her company and its clients. As Chief Technology Officer and Co-founder of Freewheel--an ad tech firm with 130 full-time employees and U.S. headquarters in New York--Yu helps major television networks make sense of all the ads they're selling, and helps brands figure out what works to reach audiences wherever they're watching video content, now. Read More
Yesterday video ad manager FreeWheel released its Q2 '11 Video Monetization Report, chock full of interesting data points gathered across 11.3 billon video views and 6 billion video ad views in the quarter. Among the key findings: long-form content (defined as 20 minutes+) carried an average of nearly 3 ads per view, with an 81% ad completion rate. Read More
FreeWheel study suggests TV model can work in digital. After years of resistance, consumers are coming around to the notion that advertising is a reasonable enough tradeoff for free online video content. According to a new report from the video monetization firm FreeWheel, the online video environment is increasingly adopting the look and feel of the 70-year-old TV ad model, as the pre-roll standard gives way to a more comprehensive break structure. Read More
Free TV on the Web seems increasingly doomed, as the broadcast networks are rapidly taking back control of their online content distribution. Meanwhile, Nielsen is pushing TV-like measurement for Web campaigns. Soon, many believe, TV networks will be able to provide total audiences numbers for their top shows, which include both TV and Web viewing. Read More
Video technology company, FreeWheel, today released version 4.0 of its flagship product, Monetization Rights Management® (MRM). Version 4.0 is the first in a series of upcoming releases that will enable FreeWheel customers -- the world's largest media and entertainment companies -- to better manage, scale, and profit from their professional video businesses. Read More
Online video viewers often cite fewer ads as one reason they watch content online rather than on traditional television, yet many publishers want to increase video ad loads and advertisers want to make sure their placements are being viewed. Research exploring how to satisfy all three constituencies indicates that while the length of online video ads matters for completion rates, the length of the content surrounding it is also key for this metric. Read More
Saturday, traditionally the least-watched night in primetime television, is actually the most popular day for online video viewing, notes a report by FreeWheel published May 23, with viewing rising 13% on Saturday compared to the lowest viewing day, Tuesday. According to its Video Monetization Report for Q1 2011, Saturday also has the highest number of video ad views of any day of the week, 13% more than the lowest monetized day, Sunday. Read More
As longer form video viewing online becomes de rigeur, an ever increasing share of advertising is moving beyond the classic pre-roll format. According to video infrastructure provider Freewheel's latest "Video Monetization Report" for Q1 2011, the mid-roll ad format defied the usual Q1 seasonal ad slump and grew in volume 30% over Q4 2010. Freewheel attributes the growth to expansion of longer content as well as an increase in ad loads for video. Pre-roll volumes declined from Q4 2010, following typical post-holiday trends, but the march of the mid-rolls continues. Read More
New research by monetisation rights management provider FreeWheel has found that online video viewing is additive to linear television viewing, not eating into prime time. The latest quarterly FreeWheel Video Monetisation Report for Q1 2011 found that online video viewing is relatively constant during the week and that even though video views continue to rise due to consumer demand and the growing availability of professional content online, the more mature pre-roll video ad format displays classic advertising seasonality. Read More
Mobile video is still a small part of overall online viewing, but it’s a part that Apple dominates, according to a new report by video monetization startup FreeWheel. In its Q1 2011 Video Monetization Report, FreeWheel said the vast majority of video views that occur on mobile devices happen on Apple’s iPhone, iPad and iPod Touch. Read More
FreeWheel, the fast-growing video management firm, is providing live video ad management for a number of broadcasters including ESPN and Turner. Tomorrow, the company will be managing video ads for the live streaming of the Royal Wedding on CNN.com. Read More
British Sky Broadcasting (Sky) has tapped video technology hub FreeWheel to serve video advertising across several of its platforms and services. The move was preceded by FreeWheel's opening of an office in London. Sky is the leading pay television provider in the UK. Read More
Video ad management provider FreeWheel has landed British Sky Broadcasting (Sky), the U.K.'s largest pay-TV operator, as a new customer, and it is also announcing the opening of its London office. Sky is using FreeWheel's Monetization Rights Management (MRM) platform as its exclusive ad manager for online and mobile video delivery. Read More
Video technology company FreeWheel today announced its expansion into the United Kingdom with the opening of a London office and the addition of a new customer to its portfolio: British Sky Broadcasting (Sky), the U.K.'s leading pay television provider. Sky will use FreeWheel's Monetization Rights Management® (MRM) product to serve video advertising across a number of its platforms and services. Read More
It should be no surprise that the online video advertising market continued to grow in 2010. Online video advertising spending is projected to continue its growth to $2.1 billion in 2011, according to eMarketer. Advertising dollars are expected to continue to flow in subsequent years and reach more than $5 billion in 2014. And these numbers are for the U.S. market alone. In November 2010, comScore reported that 5.4 billion video ads were viewed by the U.S. market. Read More
Size matters, but not in the ways you might think for video advertising. First, the fast expansion of video inventory is not driving down pricing. Both video ad volumes and prices are increasing pretty much in tandem through 2010, reports FreeWheel in its quarterly Video Monetization Report. Indexed against the full year of video pre-roll ads served through its system, the company found that video ad views grew 20 points through 2010 while CPMs were up 19 points on an index basis. FreeWheel data included 23 billion video views in 2010 and 13 billion ad views. The number of pre-roll ads served in the last quarter of the year was up 97% over the previous quarter. Read More
Getting more bang for your digital video ad has less to do with its length than the video content where it runs. A new study by digital video ad sales rights/ad server company FreeWheel pegs completion rates of video ads in content 20 minutes or longer -- typically in premium TV shows -- at 81%. Shorter, professionally produced videos -- 5 minutes to 20 minutes long -- only get a 62% completion rate. Read More
FreeWheel, the video technology company, is launching its second product today, "RPM" - Revenue & Payments Management - to streamline the complex back office financial processes associated with distributing premium-quality online video. Last week FreeWheel's co-CEOs and co-founders Jon Heller and Doug Knopper walked me through RPM and how it relates to the company's flagship Monetization Rights Management ("MRM") product. Read More
AdoTube, the online video ad platform, has secured Certified Partner status from FreeWheel, the video monetization technology provider. The companies have been collaborating since March, 2010. The certification means that AdoTube and its ad formats comply with FreeWheel's own criteria as well as IAB standards. Joint customers are able to take advantage of deep integration between the companies. Read More
Online video advertising is finally making an impact on the digital space. Of the $28.5 billion that eMarketer predicts will be spent online next year, video advertising—as it hits almost $2 billion—will be the most dramatic growth story. Video spending has always accelerated faster than other online ad formats, but this may be the first year that trend will have demonstrable results. Read More
There are not only more online video ads being shown, but users are showing grudging acceptance of such interruptions. ComScore said the number of online video viewers in October was 175 million, up 5 percent. More importantly, the amount of video viewed rose sharply. The average online video viewing time rose to 15.1 hours, up 40 percent. Video ads reached 45 percent of the U.S. population last month, with an average of 34 exposures. Read More
Premium online content is increasingly being monetized in ways that most closely resemble traditional broadcast television, according to new research from FreeWheel, whose Monetization Rights Management platform helps content owners and distributors sell ad inventory. Publishers are using more combinations of pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll, and overlay ads throughout premium content as shown by ad volume growth rates. Read More
Last month Tubemogul shared some dismal stats on the state of the video ad market with us. Namely, that visitors to web sites appear to take significant pains to avoid pre-roll advertising, the medium's dominant form.
Now, more numbers from Freewheel, and much more encouraging to the online ad industry. Freewheel serves video ads for publishers; think DoubleClick for video. They work with Turner, Discovery, YouTube, CBS and Vevo, and serve about 25% of video ads in the U.S. as measured by comScore. Read More
The $1.5 billion U.S. online-video ad market is starting to look more like its cousin, the TV ad business. Conversely, TV ads - spending on which is expected to reach $65.5 billion in the U.S. in 2010 - are getting more Web-like. The lines will certainly blur further as new services pipe Internet video onto bigger TV screens, where longer commercials are the norm. Here's a look at the confluence. Read More
Ad manager FreeWheel announced the 3.5 version of its Monetization Rights Management platform this morning, continuing to help drive online and mobile video monetization for major media companies. Included in the new features are an Android SDK, which allows great ad control within their Android apps, geo-based ad targeting to mobile devices based on current GPS coordinates, user targeting by mobile operating system, integration with 3rd party mobile ad networks AdMob and iAd and mid-roll/companion ads in HTML5 for iPhones and iPads. Read More
TV ad sales platform Invision has struck a strategic partnership with FreeWheel, the video monetization firm, that will combine their services so clients can plan and manage ad sales across TV and online video. The deal, which the two will announce later this morning, comes as advertisers are becoming increasingly serious about finding ways to bridge their TV and online ad buys, but are frustrated by hurdles that persist. Read More
AlwaysOn is excited to announce the 2010 OnHollywood 100 Top Private Companies list. Disruptive technology is forcing big changes in Hollywood: new contracts, new genres, new stars. As the behemoth industry steps into the digital era, entertainment execs will be paying even closer attention to the global Silicon Valley-especially the startups that are writing the rules and creating the tools for the digital entertainment age. Read More
Last week, Turner Broadcasting System announced it was going live with a TV Everywhere play with Verizon FiOS TV, giving Verizon's customers access to TBS and TNT content 24 hours after they air on regular TV. And, true to form, it can be accessed either from the TBS TV Everywhere website, the TNT TV Everywhere website, or through Verizon's own TV Online site. The programming is now available with the help of both Adobe Systems Incorporated and FreeWheel. Read More
FreeWheel, the video ad management and monetization provider, is announcing this morning that it has landed Spanish-language broadcaster Univision as its latest customer. In the past year, Univision has become one of the most active broadcasters involved with online video, signing a deal to move a large amount of its content to YouTube for distribution... Read More
FreeWheel named "Digital Media" category winner in the AlwaysOn awards for 2010 among 35 other companies and several video ecosystem partners. Read More
The Internet is quickly moving from words and pictures into the video age, which is changing the dynamics of how content is viewed, as well as the screen on which it is displayed. I caught up with Doug Knopper, CEO of U.S.-based ad inventory management company FreeWheel, to discuss how advertising will be produced and consumed in the new online video world. The company’s services allow the management of ad sales rights, ad inventory, deciding where an ad will be shown (pre-roll, mid-roll, post-roll or overlay banners), and work out revenue sharing. Read More
Q2 '10 was another strong quarter of financings for private video-related companies, with at least 18 companies raising more than $247.1 million according to public sources I track. Once again the group was dominated by technology-focused firms rather than those involved with content. Read More
FreeWheel, a fast growing technology firm which helps media companies manage their online video advertising efforts, wants to do the same thing on every digital platform under the sun—from the iPad to Android cell phones. The company on Wednesday (June 9) is set to announce that its core Monetization Rights Management product will support HTML5, Android, Cocoa, Flash, and Silverlight. That means that FreeWheel will be able to deliver and manage video ads on PC’s, mobile devices, mobile applications, connected TV’s, and of course devices like Apple’s iPad—which famously doesn't support Flash, the most popular Web video technology. Read More
There's been heated discussion in recent months regarding how U.S. businesses (namely Google) can, should and actually do operate in China. What's been lost in the rhetoric and debate is China's overall increasing attractiveness to entrepreneurs, as it has become a marketplace for driving innovation. Read More
Brightcove and FreeWheel are announcing a partnership today that will bring better ad-management and tracking data to publishers that want to utilize HTML5 video. Read More
Video advertising company FreeWheel has raised $16.8 million in funding from Disney's Steamboat Ventures, and existing investors including Turner Broadcasting System, Battery Ventures, and Foundation Capital. The company also announced formalized agreements with ESPN and Discovery Communications. Read More
CNBC covers the Montgomery Tech Conference, discusses how FreeWheel is one of the most sought-after companies present. Read More
FreeWheel has made a name for itself by helping publishers to run ads against their videos no matter where they are seen, whether they appear on a publisher’s own web site or — more likely — a distribution partner’s. But it’s tough to do that alone, which is why FreeWheel is announcing a new partner program. Read More
FreeWheel is on a roll, now serving almost 2 billion video ads/month, doubling its volume just since November, 2009. In addition, the company has added Major League Baseball Advanced Media to its customer roster and began implementing ads during the fall playoff season. Read More
FreeWheel, the video advertising platform, is off to a strong start this year, with new customers in Turner and VEVO, the company announced earlier this week at the NAPTE convention. Read More
With VEVO, other distribution agreements in place, ad server is at the center of the new video economy. Read More
In the category of Advertising Service Providers, FreeWheel was named among thirteen other companies as one of the Top Private Companies in 2010. Read More
Hatched by former DoubleClick execs, FreeWheel helps big media companies such as Warner Music manage and monetize ads for online videos. Read More
In a quick call yesterday with FreeWheel Co-CEO and Co-Founder Doug Knopper, who was on his way to NYC for tonight's VideoSchmooze, he told me that the company is poised to manage 1 billion video ads next month, all against premium video streams. Read More
FreeWheel Test Could Draw CBS, Warner, Up Ad Ante Past 9% Mark Read More
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