The news: Brands are demanding deeper connected TV (CTV) insights, with show-level data limitations sitting as one of the top barriers to increased CTV ad spending. Platforms like FreeWheel and InterMedia are working to address that issue.

• FreeWheel launched Video Content Report, an insight tool that gives advertisers show- and series-level reporting to close CTV transparency gaps. It’s available in Buyer Cloud for all clients.
• Participating publishers include A+E Global Media, Discovery, Fuse Media, NBCUniversal, Paramount, Spectrum Reach, Warner Bros. Discovery, and Xumo.

A vast majority (86%) of US media planners would move more linear dollars over to CTV if they had show-level targeting, per Gracenote. More than half (53%) of programmatic traders say show-level data would improve optimization of campaigns, and 91% often struggle to explain CTV performance because of limited content-level data.

What it means: As streaming takes a larger share of TV budgets, marketers want the same accountability they expect elsewhere in digital media. FreeWheel is positioning transparency itself as premium inventory’s value proposition.

Buyers historically evaluated reach, frequency, and completion rates. Now they’re asking for deeper knowledge of what franchises, genres, and titles they’re advertising in. By giving advertisers more visibility into where campaigns actually run, premium publishers can justify higher CPMs and differentiate themselves from lower-quality streaming inventory.

• DSPs without direct publisher integrations could find it harder to match these insights, making proprietary data a bigger competitive advantage.
• For buyers, richer content-level reporting could make it easier to optimize future campaigns and shift more budgets toward partners that offer greater accountability.

Recommendations for marketers: Informing campaign delivery at the series level lets marketers validate brand suitability and safety, understand content context, optimize buys, and justify CTV spend to execs.

• Push CTV partners for more content-level transparency, especially as streaming budgets grow.
• Use show- and series-level reporting to identify high-performing content environments and inform future media planning.