Index Exchange & FreeWheel Announce Direct Integration for Efficient Streaming TV Buying

Index Exchange Inc., one of the world’s largest independent ad exchanges, today (December 19th, 2023) announced a direct integration with FreeWheel, a global technology platform for the television advertising industry.  

This integration partnership unlocks a new direct path to premium streaming TV inventory, enhancing media buyers’ access to valuable inventory and increasing the diversification of demand for media owners. 

"By integrating directly with FreeWheel’s TV Platform, we’re able to establish an optimal access point into premium streaming TV ad inventory, in turn providing buyers greater transparency and control over the ad buying process," said Alex Gardner, chief revenue officer at Index Exchange. "Recognising the current growth and interest in streaming, we’re committed to ensuring marketers have the best opportunity to reach and engage with new audiences while simultaneously driving incremental demand to content owners and distributors." 

This strategic integration comes as streaming TV viewership surges to an all-time high, capturing 38.7% of total TV usage in July and is expected to represent 68% of ‌TV advertising spend by 2027. This indicates a paradigm shift in audience consumption patterns and preferences, and correspondingly in advertising budgets, increasingly favouring the premium, engaging, and targeted experiences that streaming platforms can provide. 

"We’re thrilled to deepen our relationship with Index as we are committed to enhancing interoperability across the premium TV ecosystem," said Matt Clark, vice president, strategic partnerships, FreeWheel. "By integrating with Index, we’re fostering greater transparency, efficiency, and simplicity for our clients’ inventory via unified ad decisioning within FreeWheel’s TV Platform. We believe this effort will help fuel even more innovation, growth and a better viewing experience for consumers." 

This new integration enables Index to strengthen its direct connection with leading streaming TV programmers. Media buyers can now utilise streaming TV’s expansive reach to engage with new audiences and optimise their programmatic media investments for greater efficiency and effectiveness. 

"The collaboration between Index and Freewheel marks a significant step forward in unlocking new demand opportunities for streaming publishers,” said Tyler DeNicola, vice president of programmatic revenue and partnerships at A&E. “The partnership will be instrumental in enabling us to connect with a broader and more diverse audience, ultimately driving incremental value for our content."