I was wondering why Walmart bought Vizio for 2 billion. After watching
cord cutters on YouTube I found out why. Since most of Vizio's TVs are
smart TVs guess what commercials you will see? Maybe Walmart ads.
With an annual shipment of over 200 million TVs this installed base is
ripe for Ad rape.

Also did anyone else when they turned on their Roku get a long "terms
of service" that must be agreed upon or a bricked Roku?
--

Frank Howell

In article <zAaGN.467483$PuZ9.418060@fx11.iad>, fphowell@usermail.com
says...
>
> I was wondering why Walmart bought Vizio for 2 billion. After watching
> cord cutters on YouTube I found out why. Since most of Vizio's TVs are
> smart TVs guess what commercials you will see? Maybe Walmart ads.
> With an annual shipment of over 200 million TVs this installed base is
> ripe for Ad rape.
>
> Also did anyone else when they turned on their Roku get a long "terms
> of service" that must be agreed upon or a bricked Roku?

Did you read the terms of service before you bought your Roku
device(s)? Have you read them since then? I haven't. I clicked agree and
got on with life.

"Ad rape" sounds pretty severe. I hope you get some protection.
From my point of view it looks like it's pretty much business as usual,
just more so.

"What Walmart?s acquisition of Vizio could mean for the retailer?s ad
business

The retail giant could stand to benefit from new advertiser
relationships and customer data."

"The retail giant could stand to benefit in a number of ways from its
Vizio acquisition. For one, Walmart may be able to compete even more
with other lower-priced TV sets by allowing ?Walmart to prioritize
[Vizio?s] products,? according to a report from research firm
MoffettNathanson.

Beyond the devices themselves, Vizio brings with it a plethora of
existing advertiser relationships that Walmart could potentially benefit
from. The TV manufacturer grew its direct advertising partnerships by
32% year over year in the most recent quarter, inking deals with 117 net
new partners, Vizio reported in its Q4 2023 earnings. It also has
content partnerships to supply its WatchFree+ streamer, including
agreements with Magnolia Pictures, Paramount, and BBC Studios.

To grow its ad business, Walmart will likely look to leverage Vizio?s
SmartCast and grow its user base, Dan Rayburn, conference chairman of
the Streaming Summit at NAB Show, told Marketing Brew. (SmartCast is
Vizio?s CTV operating system that recommends content to users based on
their personal viewing habits.)

That could mean an uphill challenge: both Vizio?s user growth rate and
TV shipping numbers have decreased or remained flat in recent years.
Currently, Vizio SmartCast has 18.5 million active accounts, the company
reported in its Q4 2023 earnings release.

Ads sold through Walmart?s retail media network could stand to become
more lucrative through the Vizio acquisition, Jeremy Goldman, senior
director of marketing, commerce, and tech briefings at Insider
Intelligence, said. Walmart can identify products that may appeal to
individual consumers based on their Walmart purchase history, and can
market by region as well.

?There are a lot of these SmartCast accounts that Vizio has,? Goldman
said. ?That connected data tied to a user profile can be very beneficial
in having highly targeted advertising?and the more targeted advertising
is, the more you generally charge for it.?"

https://www.marketingbrew.com/stories/2024/03/04/walmart-x-vizio-what-
the-acquisition-could-mean-for-the-retailer-s-ad-biz-and-ctv

Walmart is becoming more like Amazon, and Amazon is becoming more
like Walmart every day. Everyone else is getting in line, while the
retail business is rapidly evolving.

TB