As audiences fragment across platforms, the industry is grappling with how to monetize and measure in a cohesive way, a challenge that is forcing a fundamental rethink of long-standing business models.
For one industry executive, the path through this labyrinth of new workflows, currencies, and platforms requires a singular focus.
“The ecosystem is complex, and what we really need is simplification,” said Sean Merriweather, executive director, advisory services, FreeWheel, in this video interview with Beet.TV’s Lisa Granatstein.
Programmatic’s new maturity
Merriweather sees programmatic video as a “foundational part of an advertiser and a publisher’s toolkit,” valuable not just for direct sales but for the “benefit of automation and flexibility” it provides.
However, its application in the premium video space introduces hurdles. “With programmatic video in particular, the stakes are a lot higher because there’s so many complexities and so many considerations to take into account,” Merriweather said. She identified challenges like managing “concurrency spikes and creative readiness” as critical areas where technology must perform flawlessly.
This maturation is occurring within a rapidly expanding market. Programmatic ad spending is projected to surpass $200 billion by 2026, according to a recent eMarketer forecast. Merriweather asserted that FreeWheel is working to “bring it to the forefront” through solutions like ad server scaling.
The live sports pressure test
Nowhere are the stakes higher than in live sports, an environment Merriweather called “the ultimate pressure test” for the entire advertising ecosystem. These events represent massive cultural touchstones that command huge, engaged audiences, but their fleeting, high-stakes nature creates immense operational pressure.
“Live sports and live events, they are these massive cultural and tentpole opportunities,” Merriweather said. “It also creates a lot of engagement, and of course with live it really matters in the moment that’s happening.”
These moments also magnify technical and logistical difficulties. “Live sports also presents some challenges and complexities and tied to operational readiness, creative readiness, concurrency spikes and things of those nature,” she explained. Merriweather cited major events like the Olympics and the NFL as key examples where his company focuses on ensuring publishers can “make the most of that moment” while viewers enjoy a seamless experience.
A call for simplicity
Across all these fronts, the proliferation of platforms, currencies, and workflows has created a still-burdensome level of complexity. Merriweather argued that this is becoming unsustainable for media buyers and sellers alike.
“Everyone’s dealing with multiple platforms, multiple currencies, multiple workflows, and it’s a lot and perhaps maybe even too much,” she said. For Merriweather, the industry’s primary goal should be to make the back-end technology as user-friendly as the content consumption experience it supports.
“What we really all need to strive to do is to ensure that the transactions and everything that’s happening within the ecosystem between media buyers and sellers is as easy and as fluid as the actual viewing experience,” she added.
This philosophy is reflected in industry initiatives like FreeWheel’s launch of its Allocation Module, which aims to integrate programmatic buying into upfront agreements. “I think that’s why we’re all here, and a big push that we’re making at FreeWheel is making advertising easy,” Merriweather said.
You’re watching Beet.TV coverage from the Premium Programmatic Summit 2025, presented by FreeWheel. For more videos from this series, please visit this page .
