Cheap TVs’ incessant advertising reaches troubling new lows

-

[ad_1]

But TV brands, especially more budget ones like Vizio, are increasingly looking for new places to show ads. And one of the biggest opportunities for more ad space is idle TVs.

TV OS operators besides Vizio are trying to seize that opportunity. For example, in 2022, Roku launched Roku City, a screensaver for devices using Roku OS that shows an animated city with advertisements in the form of logos splattered across the city. Roku claims that Roku City reaches 38.5 million streaming households a week on average.


Roku City screensaver

A shot of a Roku City screensaver.

Credit:
Roku

A shot of a Roku City screensaver.


Credit:

Roku

Smart TVs and streaming devices running Amazon’s Fire OS have screensaver ads, too. Even LG, which is considered a more premium brand, launched screensaver ads in September, but users can disable them.

Startup Telly is a standout example of a company trying to monetize idle TV time. Announced in 2023, Telly TVs have a secondary screen that can show ads when the TV is not in use. Telly TVs are free to purchase in exchange for providing the company with user data, including disclosing your favorite news outlets, film and TV genres, foods, and services, your gender and race, and other information before you’re able to order the TV.


Telly TV with ads on second screen

The free Telly 4K TV has a second screen for showing ads.

The free Telly 4K TV has a second screen for showing ads.


Credit:

Telly


After they’re set up, Telly TVs track user behavior, including what they watch and for how long, what they search for, and where they put their Telly. If users opt out of tracking, Telly charges them for the TV.

Glance is another company demonstrating the strong interest advertisers have in TV screensavers. Glance is known for custom lock screens for phones that show things like news and weather. In December, it announced Glance TV, which essentially brings the same capability to TVs with Glance TV embedded into their OS. In addition to offering a different idle screen, Glance TV delivers targeted advertising and shoppable content to TVs when they go idle. Glance TV only delivers content from Glance’s partners and doesn’t gather information from the web, Digital Trends previously reported.

[ad_2]

Source link

Latest news

What Happens During a Fire Watch? Inside the Process and Protocols

When a fire alarm system fails or a sprinkler line goes offline, things don’t pause until it’s fixed. In...

Bremont Is Sending a Watch to the Moon’s Surface

A multifaceted decahedral black ceramic bezel and sandwich-style three-piece case—a reworking of Bremont's signature Trip-Tick construction—house a chronometer-rated...

The Most WIRED Watches at Watches and Wonders 2026

The case is white zirconium oxide ceramic with a Ceratanium bezel and back, rated to handle temperature swings...

Bitcoin Price Pumps 6% Near $75,000 As Shorts Liquidate

Bitcoin price surged more than 5% in the evening of April 13, climbing near the $75,000...

You Can Soon Buy a $4,370 Humanoid Robot on AliExpress

Listing consumer electronics on the internet's large ecommerce marketplaces is a key step in “democratizing” the products, allowing...

Must read

You might also likeRELATED
Recommended to you