Comcast unveils cross-publisher advertising platform for premium video market
Major media companies join Comcast's Universal Ads platform to simplify premium video advertising for marketers of all sizes.
Eight days into 2025, Comcast announced a significant development in the television advertising landscape. The company revealed Universal Ads, a platform designed to consolidate premium video advertising across multiple major media networks.
The platform, scheduled to launch in the first quarter of 2025, brings together ten prominent media companies as launch partners, including A+E, AMC Networks, DIRECTV, Fox Corporation, NBCUniversal, Paramount, Roku, TelevisaUnivision, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Xumo.
According to a 2024 study conducted by Comcast Advertising involving 250 performance-based advertisers, 50% of participants who had minimal or no television advertising experience reported diminishing returns from social media advertising. The same study indicated that 89% of these advertisers expressed interest in exploring television advertising opportunities.
James Rooke, President of Comcast Advertising, stated in the announcement: "Universal Ads has been purpose-built in response to what advertisers have been asking from Comcast. That is, make TV simpler to buy, scale and measure in a way that is compatible with the needs of performance marketers, and really, all marketers."
"Universal Ads is going to solve that problem by simplifying access and making it easy with zero learning curve-- the same way they buy social video." James Rooke
The technical infrastructure of Universal Ads builds upon FreeWheel's advertising technology. FreeWheel, a Comcast subsidiary, currently facilitates video advertising for a significant portion of premium video publishers in the United States. The platform introduces several technical components:
Universal Ads Manager, a self-service tool for television advertising purchasing, will be provided at no cost to users. The platform aims to reach over 90% of U.S. households through premium, brand-safe video content. Future developments include plans for automated AI-driven television commercial production at no additional cost. A marketing API will enable developers to create applications for reporting, measurement, creative generation, and other functionalities.
The initiative addresses a significant disparity in the premium video advertising sector. According to the Interactive Advertising Bureau, 75% of Connected TV (CTV) advertisements are purchased programmatically. However, FreeWheel data indicates that only approximately 20% of premium video content is traded through programmatic channels, primarily due to complexity and protective measures for brand and viewer experiences.
Jeff Collins, President of Advertising Sales, Marketing and Brand Partnerships for Fox Corporation, emphasized the platform's potential impact: "Universal Ads offers the solution to the fragmented premium video advertising category. Coming together as publishers allows us to present a singular platform for brands of any size in any category to advertise in premium video — all with the ease and familiarity of buying on social."
The leadership structure for Universal Ads includes James Grant as the initiative's head. James Borow, previously at Snap, where he contributed to launching advertising businesses for platforms including Snap, Reddit, and Discord, will lead the product and engineering teams. This team will work in collaboration with FreeWheel's existing product and technology division.
Mark Marshall, Chairman of NBCUniversal Global Advertising & Partnerships, highlighted the strategic significance: "The north star of advertising has always been combining the premium reach of linear with the precision of data-informed targeting for marketers. Now with Universal Ads, we are delivering that vision to businesses of all sizes."
The platform represents a strategic shift in how premium video advertising inventory is made available to advertisers of varying sizes. By creating a unified access point for premium video inventory across multiple publishers, Universal Ads aims to simplify the process of purchasing and managing television advertising campaigns while maintaining the quality standards associated with premium video content.