Comcast bought FreeWheel in 2014 for $360 million and kept it independent, serving Fox, Viacom, Discovery, Turner, DirecTV and NBCU itself, according to a LinkedIn post by an industry commentator. The post states that FreeWheel confirmed the move inside NBCUniversal, arguing that closer alignment with NBCU will accelerate its mission. The post attributes the initial report to John Ebbert's Tipsheet.
According to the post, when Comcast spins off NBCU and Sky in mid-2027, FreeWheel and Universal Ads will go with the media company. After the split, Comcast will focus on broadband and wireless, while NBCU retains NBC, Peacock and Sky.
The post says FreeWheel has been building and deploying infrastructure for AI agents in advertising, and that its Buyer Cloud, formerly Beeswax, already powers agentic upfront optimization launched this month by Carat, NBCU and Newton. It also says Lionsgate selected FreeWheel as exclusive ad server for nearly 90 FAST channels, and that Universal Ads launched with partners including Fox, Paramount, Warner Bros. Discovery and Roku, reaching 21 publishers by July.
The post raises a trust concern: FreeWheel serves publishers that compete directly with NBCU for the same advertising budgets, and it now sits under NBCU, under James Rooke, who oversees its TV networks and streaming business. The post suggests NBCU adopt safeguards comparable to the FTC's October 19 consent order on Publicis acquiring LiveRamp, including neutral access for competing customers, data firewalls with access logging, and independent audits every six months for two years.