The monetization stack for a small streaming app, explained
You don't need FreeWheel's stack to sell ads on a niche streaming service. Here's what the minimum viable CTV ad stack actually looks like — and the order to build it in.
Ad Tech
FAST's yield problem: why free TV's ad breaks earn less than they should
Viewership keeps climbing, but revenue per hour lags. The gap lives in the plumbing: pod construction, ad decisioning, and reporting most channels never look at.
Who actually serves streaming's ads? The CTV ad-server landscape in 2026
Behind every streaming ad break sits an ad server deciding what plays. The market splits into big-media incumbents and a new crop of independents — and whose side your vendor is on matters.
After SSAI: why the industry is talking about server-guided ad insertion
Server-side insertion made streaming ads seamless but muddied measurement. SGAI is the compromise architecture most new CTV builds are converging on.
The TV remote becomes a checkout button: retail media collides with CTV
Retail media is a ~$69 billion business hunting for bigger screens, and TV platforms are hunting for better data. The deals redrawing both markets are already signed.
The currency war: who gets to count TV's audience now?
Nielsen's half-century monopoly on TV measurement has become a five-way fight — and billions in upfront deals now settle on the challengers' numbers.
SSAI, explained: why streaming's ads are stitched in before you ever press play
Server-side ad insertion is the invisible plumbing behind FAST channels and live streaming — here's how it works and why the market for it is growing fast.
CTV ad spend nears $38 billion — and beats linear at the upfronts for the first time
2026 is the year connected TV stopped being the challenger in TV advertising's biggest ritual.