„We are in the midst of another golden age of TV“ – Marc Lauriac, Commercial Director Northern Europe FreeWheel

Marc Lauriac: We saw early on that convergence and cross platform integration was going to change consumer viewing habits. Often companies start down a path, and then shift focus when they identify a different trend emerging. We have always viewed that television was television regardless of the screen or the wires and that the future of television will be a unified market across all screens – and we have structured our business solutions accordingly. Our focus has been on the economics of the television business. Namely that advertising is a crucial revenue stream for television companies. We determined that television companies would need to find a way to sell ads like they did on television, just in any “dynamic” or on-demand environment – IP, set top box, or otherwise-- as consumers move to more on demand viewing.

Ten years ago, the television set was what viewers used to watch programming. Many of us remember the days when we could count our channel options on our fingers - and our viewing options were limited to what was on TV at the time we wanted to watch. Today, we are for example, able to begin watching a program on an iPhone, continue it on the flat screen in our living rooms, and finish watching the program before bed on an iPad.

FreeWheel is specialized in monetization solutions for the TV Business. Which technologies are involved?

FreeWheel’s core technology offerings are focused in two areas: content monetization via advertising and supporting revenue operations and profitability.

Monetization Rights Management (MRM), FreeWheel’s flagship product was purpose-built to generate more revenue across partners, devices, and environments. MRM enables our clients to manage advertising sales rights, accurately forecast inventory, serve yield-optimized ads, and analyze performance – anywhere their content appears.

Revenue & Payments Management (RPM) is an open, modular system that provides the necessary infrastructure to combine contract and order management with invoicing and payables. Its capabilities enable clients to manage the flow of contracts, generate accurate invoices, and issue correct payments across revenue models, advertisers, and partners.

The explosive growth of premium digital video is further evidence that we are in the midst of another golden age of TV. We’re seeing considerable year-over-year growth as more publishers leverage premium online properties to both expand their linear presence and provide a distinctive digital experience.

Last quarter brought live streaming records, as viewers flocked to their laptops, smartphones, tablets and streaming devices to watch events including the NBA Playoffs, NHL Playoffs, and the World Cup. Mobile and over-the- top devices (OTT) grew 93% and 236% year-over-year, respectively. Along with tablets, these devices now account for 24% of all ad views. TV Everywhere took another leap forward as Programmers put more content behind authentication walls and saw viewers follow: 38% of long-form and live ad views now come from authenticated users. The viewer experience for long-form content increasingly mirrors the TV experience, blurring the lines between tablets and set-top boxes. As digital viewing grows above 28% per year, expect to see innovation follow suit as Publishers and Advertisers strive to reach viewers wherever and whenever they are watching.

What will be the top issue of Dmexco next year?

We’ll likely see more traditional TV broadcaster ad sales executives entering the ecosystem to bridge the gap between the digital and linear sides of the converging marketplace sell multi-screen campaigns, and a continued trend toward “programmatic “ as it inches towards becoming the alternative method for trading media. How premium TV publishers participate in the “programmatic” ecosystem however will continue to be big debate in face of arbitragers and other middlemen.