FreeWheel is wheelin’ and dealin’ (we had to, sorry!).
Today, the company announced an expansion of its SSP inventory partners, with Fubo, LG Ads, Philo, Plex, TCL, Telly, and others signing on. The move broadens FreeWheel’s video marketplace, giving advertisers and agencies access to more premium publishers while helping those publishers tap into increased demand.
Why This Matters:
This is a win for advertisers, who now gain access to inventory from established players like LG Ads and Fubo, as well as emerging platforms like Telly. More variety, options, and flexibility—especially for smaller advertisers—will ultimately drive greater CTV ad spend. FreeWheel alludes to that in its release, noting that it’s “committed to simplifying the premium CTV ecosystem to help advertisers of all sizes reach their audiences.
For the participating platforms and publishers, the partnership provides access to a leading SSP’s demand and advertiser base. Win-win, like we said.
The news follows an April announcement from FreeWheel which outlined a realignment of its product portfolio, introducing two new “suites” — the FreeWheel Publisher Suite and the FreeWheel Advertiser Suite — aimed at simplifying its CTV adtech offering.
Experts React:
FreeWheel’s release includes a flurry of quotes from participating companies (we counted—roughly 43! Just kidding). Here’s one from Philo’s Aulden Kaye Yi, Head of Advertising Partnerships:
“Philo has always focused on helping brands reach their relevant audiences simply and flexibly across our premium, brand-safe CTV inventory and highly engaged viewership. Our partnership with FreeWheel is furthering this mission, creating the opportunity for new advertisers to harness the power of the biggest screen in the house in a streamlined and scalable way.”
Our Take:
A major Cannes conversation—despite the lack of SMB advertisers on the ground—will be around broadening access to CTV. Continued growth depends on it. If not, channels like retail media could start to eat CTV’s lunch (though CTV is increasingly part of retail media itself).
If we were tracking SMB-focused CTV releases since January, there’ve been quite a few. Worth noting: FreeWheel and Universal Ads are Comcast cousins, and the latter is explicitly focused on the SMB market. (See yesterday’s announcement about its Business Partner Program.)
