Ilya Pozin, the co-founder of Pluto TV, is reportedly interested in a project that aims to give away free TVs with a catch. The televisions in question would be ad-supported and come with a built-in second screen dedicated solely to ads and a soundbar.
Pozin’s new company, titled ‘Teevee Corporation’, is looking to make its money off the ads that appear on a TV’s secondary screen instead of selling the actual hardware, according to Janko Roettgers in his Lowpass newsletter. Although a bit bizarre in theory, companies like Vizio already make more money off of ads and commissions than from television sales.
The built-in screen would allegedly be the same height as a smartphone but stretch across the entire width of the screen. Alongside the built-in ads, widgets with information on weather, news headlines, and sports scores from all the major leagues could appear.
At least you get a free smart TV, right? Well, not exactly.
It’s reported that the ad-infused television will not be a smart TV and will instead bundle existing streaming extensions such as Amazon and Roku. The device, which could be called ‘Telly,’ does not have a current timeline. However, a website for the device claims that the project is “the biggest thing to happen to TV since color” and will debut in 2023.
Although primitive in its production, the prospect of a TV with no cost at the expense of non-stop ads is interesting, if nothing else. Personally, it’s hard for me to hold back my rage when someone accidentally stumbles in front of the TV, so the thought of never-ending ads taking up the width of my programming doesn’t seem ideal.
But hey, sometimes you can’t argue with free.
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