• by Wayne Friedman , December 12, 2024

In a major advertising streaming partnership agreement, streaming distribution platform Roku is expanding its deal with Comcast's ad-technology FreeWheel platform to make Roku’s ad inventory -- including that on the Roku Channel -- available to FreeWheel’s advertising clients.

The deal will work through the Roku Exchange, where advertisers can purchase streaming advertising inventory. For the first time, it will allow real-time bidding among programmatic platforms -- premium CTV inventory at scale.

"Having Roku inventory available alongside our other premium publishers is a major victory for not just FreeWheel clients but consumers as well," says Greg Bel, executive director, Strategic Partnerships, FreeWheel, in a release.

The Roku Exchange uses viewer identity data from Roku's 85.5 million active accounts to create more precise targeting segments.

Roku says the original deal with FreeWheel was focused on data interoperability.

A year ago, Roku and FreeWheel expanded their existing deal where Roku could see programmers’ full advertising inventory from FreeWheel's TV technology platform, including its supply-side platform. FreeWheel also used Roku’s clean room to match publisher first-party data with Roku device IDs.

Industry estimates project that Roku is expected to see 16% growth in ad revenue to $1.1 billion in the fourth quarter and $3.9 billion for all of 2024.