Comcast makes traditional TV inventory biddable through programmatic marketplace

Comcast Advertising announced on October 23, 2025, the availability of biddable linear television advertising through programmatic private marketplaces. The development enables advertisers to purchase traditional TV inventory using the same automated systems previously limited to digital media channels. FreeWheel's Buyer Cloud technology powers the implementation, which completed its beta testing phase with Comcast inventory.

The announcement represents a fundamental change in television advertising operations. According to James Rooke, President of Comcast Advertising, "One of the key pillars the advertising industry needs to deliver is simplicity for the marketer, and introducing biddable ads on traditional TV is a major step toward that goal, bringing ease, efficiency, and scale to programmatic campaign delivery."

Dentsu executed the first campaign using this approach for Briarcliff Entertainment's film Stitch Head, scheduled for theatrical release on October 29. The agency partnered with Rabbits Black to deliver advertisements across both connected television and linear TV through a single programmatic private marketplace campaign. According to Kevin Weigand, VP of Partnerships – Video & Audio Lead at dentsu, "We're proud to partner with Comcast Advertising to open up traditional TV to a new generation of buyers, giving brands unprecedented access to premium audiences."

The implementation marks a convergence point between linear and streaming television advertising. Programmatic television advertising has evolved significantly throughout 2025, with multiple platforms implementing advanced automated buying capabilities. The addition of linear TV inventory to programmatic marketplaces addresses what dentsu described as the challenge of delivering "true incremental reach" through scaled modern video approaches.

Comcast Advertising's solution provides four technical capabilities that distinguish it from traditional linear television buying processes. First, linear TV inventory becomes available through programmatic private marketplaces, enabling buyers to submit bids rather than purchasing inventory on a spot basis. This shift eliminates manual negotiation requirements that characterized decades of broadcast advertising transactions.

Second, the inventory supports targeting on the buyer's end. Advertisers can apply the same audience segments used for digital campaigns to linear television placements. This capability addresses a longstanding fragmentation between broadcast and digital advertising workflows that required separate planning processes and data applications.

Third, buyers gain control over how they access inventory and audiences. The system supports managed insertion orders, programmatic private marketplace deals, and programmatic guaranteed deals. Agencies and advertisers can optimize media purchases based on performance data rather than relying solely on pre-campaign projections.

Fourth, brands can purchase linear and digital inventory together through unified campaign structures. Research cited in the announcement indicates that combining TV with digital campaigns produces a 15% lift in purchase intent compared to digital-only approaches.

The solution provides access to more than 11 billion monthly impressions on premium linear inventory. According to the announcement, this supply creates "a new, vast supply of content for advertisers who typically purchase programmatically." FreeWheel's Buyer Cloud technology handles campaign execution and management, providing what Comcast Advertising describes as "optimal campaign execution and management to add access to audiences above and beyond the traditional programmatic execution."

The development occurs as Connected TV advertising spending approaches $33.35 billion in 2025, with 72% of marketers planning increased programmatic investment. CTV budget allocation has doubled from 14% in 2023 to 28% in 2025, reflecting advertiser recognition of streaming platform performance capabilities.

FreeWheel has systematically consolidated its programmatic offerings since acquiring Beeswax in January 2021. The company launched unified Publisher Suite and Advertiser Suite configurations in April 2025, organizing its technology stack to streamline connections between buyers and sellers. The Buyer Cloud represents FreeWheel's cloud-based, modular infrastructure that enables agencies to integrate television advertising into their media management systems with full transparency over data activation, decisioning, optimization, and measurement.

The technical implementation required years of investment across Comcast's operations to build what the company describes as a "scalable, dynamic solution." The architecture needed to accommodate real-time bidding processes while maintaining the operational requirements of linear television broadcast scheduling. Traditional television operates on fixed schedules with specific commercial break structures, creating technical constraints absent from on-demand digital environments.

Rooke emphasized that the solution addresses a fundamental industry need. "Buyers no longer need to patch together media plans," he stated. "Now there's a seamless way to buy, target, and optimize traditional TV alongside streaming media to hit what's at the heart of advertising: reaching customers and driving outcomes."

The beta phase completion with Comcast inventory sets the stage for broader industry adoption. According to the announcement, FreeWheel publisher clients will be able to enable their inventory following the beta period. This expansion would provide advertisers with increased campaign flexibility, targeting capabilities, and reach across multiple broadcast networks and content providers.

The announcement arrives amid significant transformation in television advertising technology. UK broadcasters Sky, Channel 4 and ITV announced plans in June 2025 to launch a unified self-service television advertising marketplace in 2026, also powered by Comcast Advertising technology and FreeWheel infrastructure. That initiative aims to democratize television advertising access for small and medium-sized businesses through simplified purchasing processes and addressable inventory.

The distinction between streaming and linear television has created operational complexity for advertisers managing cross-platform campaigns. Streaming platforms operate through internet protocol delivery, enabling precise measurement and targeting capabilities through digital infrastructure. Linear television relies on broadcast transmission to reach households, historically limiting targeting precision to broader demographic and geographic parameters.

Programmatic advertising's expansion into linear television addresses what industry analysis describes as persistent barriers. Previous reporting indicates that only approximately 20% of premium video content traded through programmatic channels, primarily due to complexity and protective measures for brand and viewer experiences.

The Stitch Head campaign demonstrates practical application. Dentsu utilized its Modern Video approach alongside proprietary data and identity solutions integrated with FreeWheel's Buyer Cloud. The campaign combined connected television placements with biddable linear television inventory through a single programmatic private marketplace structure. This unified approach enabled the agency to complement CTV reach with incremental access to linear television households.

Comcast Advertising operates as the advertising division of Comcast Corporation, alongside NBCUniversal and Sky. The company positions itself as a global leader in media, technology and advertising, fostering connections between brands and audiences as well as among publishers, distributors, multichannel video programming distributors, agencies and other industry participants.

FreeWheel provides the technology, data enablement and convergent marketplaces required for buyers and sellers to transact across screens, data types and sales channels. The company's stated goal focuses on ensuring results for marketers through its technical infrastructure.

The programmatic linear advertising solution is currently available to advertisers using FreeWheel's Buyer Cloud. Interested parties can access information about purchasing linear programmatic inventory through Comcast Advertising's contact channels.

The development represents a technical milestone in television advertising infrastructure. For decades, broadcast television advertising operated through direct negotiations between agencies and networks, with pricing determined by fixed rate cards and audience estimates from measurement providers. The introduction of biddable inventory transforms this model by enabling dynamic pricing based on real-time demand and supply conditions.

The implications extend beyond operational efficiency. Dynamic pricing mechanisms allow smaller advertisers to access inventory previously unavailable due to minimum spending requirements. Programmatic platforms reduce transaction costs through automation, potentially lowering barriers to entry for brands that found traditional television advertising economically prohibitive.

Measurement capabilities also advance through programmatic integration. Digital advertising platforms provide granular performance data enabling campaign optimization based on actual results rather than projected outcomes. Extending these measurement systems to linear television inventory creates unified reporting across broadcast and digital channels.

The timing aligns with broader viewing pattern shifts. Nielsen data from July 2025 indicated streaming officially eclipsed the combined share of broadcast and cable television for the first time. Streaming represented 44.8% of TV viewership in May 2025, while broadcast (20.1%) and cable (24.1%) combined represented 44.2% of total television viewing.

These viewing pattern changes create pressure on traditional television infrastructure to adopt capabilities standard in streaming environments. Advertisers have grown accustomed to programmatic buying processes, precise targeting options, and detailed performance measurement through digital campaigns. The extension of these capabilities to linear television inventory addresses expectation gaps between legacy and contemporary advertising systems.

The announcement positions Comcast Advertising within a competitive landscape where multiple technology providers vie to facilitate television advertising transactions. The expansion of programmatic capabilities across platformsdemonstrates industry momentum toward automated buying systems that consolidate inventory access through unified interfaces.

For marketing professionals, the development matters because it reduces operational complexity in cross-platform campaign management. Rather than maintaining separate workflows for digital and broadcast media, agencies can execute unified strategies through integrated platforms. This consolidation potentially improves efficiency while reducing the specialized knowledge requirements previously necessary for navigating distinct purchasing systems.

The solution's success will depend on adoption rates among both buyers and sellers. FreeWheel publisher clients must elect to enable their inventory within the programmatic marketplace. Buyer adoption requires confidence in the technical infrastructure's ability to deliver performance comparable to traditional purchasing methods. Industry observers will monitor whether the promised efficiency gains and incremental reach materialize in practice.

The beta testing phase with Comcast inventory provided validation before broader market availability. According to dentsu's statement about the Stitch Head campaign, the approach successfully delivered incremental reach through the unified buying approach across linear and digital channels. This initial evidence suggests the technical implementation functions as designed, though broader adoption will test scalability across diverse inventory sources and advertiser requirements.

Timeline

• January 2021: FreeWheel acquires Beeswax to expand programmatic marketplace capabilities across television and video advertising
• April 29, 2025: FreeWheel unifies CTV product ecosystem with new suite names including Publisher Suite and Advertiser Suite
• June 11, 2025: FreeWheel expands premium CTV marketplace partnerships with eight streaming platforms
• June 17, 2025: UK broadcasters announce plans for unified self-service TV advertising marketplace powered by Comcast technology
• July 16, 2025: Wunderkind launches programmatic CTV pause ads demonstrating cost reduction capabilities
• August 19, 2025: IPG Mediabrands launches Acxiom Contextual CTV solution for streaming ads
• October 23, 2025: Comcast Advertising announces biddable linear TV advertising through programmatic private marketplaces
• October 29, 2025: Stitch Head film opens in theaters following first campaign using biddable linear TV inventory

Summary

Who: Comcast Advertising, working with FreeWheel technology, launched the solution. Dentsu and Rabbits Black executed the first campaign on behalf of Briarcliff Entertainment. James Rooke serves as President of Comcast Advertising, while Kevin Weigand holds the position of VP, Partnerships – Video & Audio Lead at dentsu.

What: The announcement introduces biddable linear television advertising through programmatic private marketplaces. The solution enables advertisers to purchase traditional TV inventory using automated systems, applying audience targeting segments, optimizing campaigns, and buying linear and digital inventory together through unified campaign structures. The implementation provides access to more than 11 billion monthly impressions on premium linear inventory.

When: Comcast Advertising made the announcement on October 23, 2025. The beta testing phase with Comcast inventory has concluded. The Stitch Head campaign ran ahead of the film's October 29, 2025 theatrical release. FreeWheel publisher clients will be able to enable their inventory following the initial beta period.

Where: The solution operates through FreeWheel's Buyer Cloud technology platform. Dentsu worked with Comcast Advertising on the campaign execution. The programmatic linear advertising solution is currently available to advertisers using FreeWheel's Buyer Cloud across markets where Comcast Advertising and FreeWheel operate.

Why: The development addresses advertiser demand for simplified media planning and unified cross-platform campaign execution. Research indicates that combining TV with digital campaigns produces a 15% lift in purchase intent compared to digital-only approaches. The solution eliminates the need for separate workflows between linear and digital inventory, reducing operational complexity while providing access to incremental reach through traditional television households. Industry trends show CTV budget allocation doubling from 14% in 2023 to 28% in 2025, creating pressure to extend programmatic capabilities to linear inventory.