Tegna and Comcast's FreeWheel said they extended their agreement under which Tegna takes advantage of FreeWheel’s automated systems, which makes it easier for agencies to buy advertising from Tegna’s local stations.
The new deal gives media buyers access to Tegna’s Premion CTV and OTT advertising business.
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“The media industry has transformed over the past decade, and through our partnership with FreeWheel, we continue to show our customers that we are an industry leader,” said Kurt Rao, chief technology officer at Tegna. “Agencies are relying on automation more than ever. With FreeWheel, we are able to process orders more quickly and more efficiently for our agency partners across our marketing and advertising solutions, including Premion.”
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Under the agreement, Tegna stations can use FreeWheel’s Strata ad platform to process electronic orders via ePort, which automates buying, selling and managing local TV ads.
The companies also plan to work together on new marketplace-based technology to enhance programmatic transaction and inventory acquisition.
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“At FreeWheel, we pride ourselves on our ability to build more efficient and streamlined connections between buyers and sellers,” said Ian Banks, business development manager, FreeWheel. “Through our partnership, Tegna and Premion are able to offer clients a completely automated and efficient experience from start to finish – including advanced capabilities like data-focused solutions. This is the future of our industry.”
Premion will continue to use FreeWheel’s Strata ad management platform to connect the 1,100 agencies that use Strata to access Premion’s video inventory from more than 125 premium publishers.
“Advertisers are seeking efficiencies and simplicity in the planning and buying of CTV/OTT campaigns and our FreeWheel partnership facilitates the automation of buyer workflows," said Tom Cox, president of Premion. "We look forward to strengthening this relationship to provide brands and marketers with more convenience, control, and broader access to Premion’s premium OTT inventory via the FreeWheel Agency platform.”
