Business
Scripps Partners With Freewheel to Accelerate Advertiser Investment Across Women's Sports and Live Events Including the WNBA and NWSL
FreeWheel powers ION’s ability for advertisers to target and reach viewers across all screens CINCINNATI & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- The E.W. Scripps
About this update from E.w. Scripps Company (the)
[{"type":"text","content":"\nFreeWheel powers ION’s ability for advertisers to target and reach viewers across all screens\n\n CINCINNATI & NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--\nThe E.W. Scripps Company (NASDAQ: SSP) is partnering with FreeWheel, a global technology platform for the television advertising industry, to increase advertising opportunities across women’s live sports content on ION, Scripps’ national sports and entertainment network that reaches every U.S. TV household over-the-air and on all major pay TV and connected TV services.\nThis press release features multimedia. View the full release here: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20250515874147/en/\nBringing audiences the excitement of WNBA and NWSL games alongside original programming like the “State Farm® WNBA Friday Night Spotlight on ION,” ION is offering brands a premium way to be part of the energy around women’s sports. Last month, Scripps also announced that ION will be the exclusive television home to both the inaugural SI Women’s Games and the Elevance Health Women’s Fort Myers Tip Off college basketball tournament.\n\nThrough this partnership, Scripps and Freewheel aim to not only increase investment in women’s sports but also bring new advertisers to the arena.\n\n“In addition to surges in viewership across our tentpole women’s sports content on ION last year, we saw more than two dozen new brands advertising with Scripps,” says Seth Walters, head of CTV sales at Scripps. “As the demand for women’s sports content accelerates and viewers increasingly seek it on streaming and connected TV platforms, we want to continue to bring more brands into the fold through our expanding roster of live women’s sports and our always-on distribution.”\n\nFreeWheel’s focus on the growth of programmatic advertising across sports and live events in streaming is reflected in an enhanced product suite built to handle the unique challenges of live TV. With expedited programmatic activation via creative pre-approvals, tools to anticipate real time viewership that ensure proper pacing and ad-serving at scale, FreeWheel is ensuring that programmatic advertising can support the continued growth of live sports across streaming.\n\n“CTV monetization through the first eight weeks of this NWSL on ION season has seen a major uptick vs. last season, increasing over 200%,” says Walters. “We are looking forward to wo...