Comcast Technology Solutions

Universal Ads Launches UK Self‑Serve TV Platform for SMEs

ITV, Channel 4 and Sky have launched a joint self-serve advertising platform for small and medium-sized enterprises in the UK under the Universal Ads brand on 2026-06-23. The product uses Universal Ads technology originally developed by Comcast in the US and aims to make broadcaster TV inventory accessible and easy to buy for SMEs by replicating the simplicity of social platforms. At launch the tool supports a Universal Ads pixel to connect TV impressions to website actions (visits, sign-ups, purchases) and exposes an API for third-party verification and measurement. Lantern — the broadcasters’ outcomes-measurement initiative — is scheduled to join as a third-party measurement partner in 2027. Executives from Sky Media, ITV and Channel 4 framed the platform as a way to lower barriers, attract new advertisers and grow TV ad spend among smaller brands.

Xumo Expands Contextual Targeting with Gracenote, IRIS.TV

Xumo, the streaming joint venture between Comcast and Charter, announced expanded integrations with Gracenote and IRIS.TV to deliver richer contextual signals across its FAST (free ad-supported streaming TV) inventory. Gracenote will provide standardized, source-validated program-level metadata and taxonomy, while IRIS.TV will supply video-level, frame-by-frame contextual intelligence for both linear and on-demand programming. Xumo says the combined capabilities aim to improve ad relevance, reduce waste and support stronger performance across its FAST footprint of 2,000 channels on 30+ platforms. Executives from Xumo Advertising, Gracenote and Viant commented on improved brand safety, suitability and the ability to activate more precise programmatic buys. Xumo also reported strong recent audience growth for Xumo Play (≈40% YoY MAU growth; 64% increase in hours watched).

Massive 'FortiBleed' Campaign Compromises Fortinet Devices

Two cybersecurity firms, Hudson Rock and SOCRadar, report an ongoing campaign dubbed "FortiBleed" that has compromised tens of thousands of Fortinet firewalls and VPN gateways worldwide. Attackers scan the internet for exposed Fortinet devices and use lists of previously leaked passwords to brute-force access; compromised devices are then used to harvest additional credentials and propagate further intrusions. Hudson Rock found evidence suggesting more than 73,000 unique Fortinet URLs were compromised, while SOCRadar reported over 30,000 affected devices. Reported victims include large enterprises such as Accenture, Comcast, Foxconn, Lenovo, Oracle, Samsung, Siemens and PwC. Affected countries with the highest counts include India, the United States, Taiwan and Mexico. Fortinet responded saying the campaign is a third-party credential-harvesting activity and reflects reshared data and credential brute-forcing rather than a new Fortinet vulnerability.