The Smart TV OEM NewFronts
Given that we’ve just released three reports on the Emerging Smart TV Ecosystem, we thought we’d give a brief rundown of the VIZIO, Samsung and LG NewFronts which took place this week.
The team in front of VIZIO’s virtual house
VIZIO held its NewFront at Moonlight Studios, an “extended reality” space in SoHo. For virtual viewers, the event took place in a virtual VIZIO home, but in-person attendees got to see and mingle with key VIZIO executives live and in person with the virtual house as a backdrop. Among the highlights were a renewed focus on user experience via the SmartCast interface and new programming for the WatchFree+ FAST, including an original series featuring Tori Spelling.
On the data side, VIZIO rolled out VIZIO Analytics, an audience and attribution offering that provides frequency control along with attribution metrics, and VIZIO Enact, a proprietary tech stack designed to make it easier for advertisers to runs linear addressable.
Evan Shapiro explaining why dongles are dying at Samsung
SAMSUNG held its NewFront at the Samsung Store in the Meatpacking District. Media Cartographer and TVREV friend Evan Shapiro kicked things off with a rundown of this infographic explaining why CTV is so important for advertisers as it is now dominating viewing patterns and why improved interfaces on CTV meant the dongle was dying.
On the interface side, Samsung is upgrading its Samsung TV Plus service with a new interface that offers curated recommendations from over 2,000 apps and 200 streaming channels. On the data front, Samsung rolled out Total Media Solution, a platform that manages and measures ad buys across both linear and streaming services, allowing advertisers to manage their media buys in one place with the help of Samsung Ads tech.
LG Ads Solutions CEO Raghu Kodige at their rooftop party
LG kicked things off with a party Wednesday night at the PHD rooftop lounge at the Dream Hotel in Chelsea, featuring a set by DJ Questlove.
In its NewFronts presentation, which was delivered virtually (though filmed at LG’s New Jersey-based studio), the emphasis was on the global nature if LG’s footprint. LG has 130 million TVs worldwide, which, it noted, means that one out of every two TVs sold worldwide is either an LG or a Samsung.
On the advertising side, LG Ads Solutions highlighted its Guaranteed Outcome products, which ensure that marketers will only pay for the CTV ads they buy via LG Ads Solutions if they meet agreed-upon performance goals.
To wrap up the OEM round-up with news of companies that did not sponsor our reports, Roku had a very Upfronts-like presentation, with stars of their new originals (Daniel Radcliffe, Martha Stewart and Emeril Lagasse) there to highlight how much of a destination its FAST — the Roku Channel — had become. It also rolled out a shoppable ad product that is currently in testing.
Amazon went a similar route, with SNL star Amy Poehler hosting a NewFront highlighting its original series, NFL games, partnership with Twitch (Amazon owns it) and the recent acquisition of the MGM library along with some Disney hits. Read David Bloom’s write-up in TVREV for the full story.
Finally, Comcast (which makes both smart TVs and the Flex streaming device) announced a JV partnership with Charter that will see them both delivering a new streaming interface to subscribers that will live on the aforementioned Flex device.
