Tech is getting really good, buying a TV now means being set for a decade or more without needing to upgrade, with future-proof 8K TVs and crazy fast interfaces, TV manufacturers have to make sure they find another way to eat apart from selling hardware.
Part of the reason the Apple ecosystem is so reliable albeit expensive is software, every hardware manufacturer is moving in this direction, from subscription services to cloud services and you guessed it, ads.
Smartphone manufacturers have been doing it, for instance, the cheaper Xiaomi smartphones get MIUI riddled with ads in the interface to make up for the cheap price tag, now, TV manufacturers are following suit.
Vizio has enabled a feature on its TVs that display banner adverts over live shows. According to sources, the feature dubbed ‘Jump Ads,’ brings a visual overlay that appears during a television spot, which then pushes users towards the series on an app available on Vizio’s devices.
Companies with Massive TVs with razor-thin frames, brilliant image quality, and built-in streaming services will be more affordable than ever thanks to companies like Vizio and TCL providing data to third parties to show you ads.
In January on The Verge’s podcast, Vizio’s chief technology officer, Bill Baxter stated it’s not just about data collection. It’s about post-purchase monetization of the TV. “This is a cutthroat industry,” Baxter said. “It’s a 6% margin industry. The greater strategy is that I really don’t need to make money off of the TV. I need to cover my cost.”
Is this compromise good enough for you? and this is not happening in Chinese TVs only, even companies like Sony, which make high-end smart TVs with equally high price tags, are getting in on these additional forms of revenue. The most recent Google TV update introduced an entire row of sponsored content – advertising – to the home screen.