Want a free TV? How about two?

There’s no such thing as a free lunch. So what’s going on with the supposedly free 55-inch 4K HDR TV announced yesterday by Telly?

Well, it’s not technically free – you have to also take a second, smaller TV. That’s also free…

So, really, what’s the catch?

Ads. Lots and lots of ads.

👀 More details… Telly, which was founded by the ad-supported TV platform Pluto TV’s co-founder, Ilya Pozin, is offering 500,000 free TV packages that include the 55-inch screen, soundbar, and a second, smaller screen called the “Smart Display.” Pozin likened it to a car’s dashboard.

The Smart Display will serve targeted advertisements – alongside the weather, news, stock prices, and sports scores – custom-tailored for each viewer based on their demographic and psychographic data. And when you’re not watching, ads can run across both screens at once.

• The TV also comes with a camera that can be used for Zoom video calls and “free advanced motion-tracking fitness programs.”

🔎 Zoom out: Telly’s launch coincides with the entertainment industry’s broader move toward free ad-supported streaming TV (FAST). The top two FAST platforms, Pluto TV and Tubi, accounted for about 1.7% of total TV/streaming use in February of this year, after not even making the rankings as recently as August 2022. (For context, HBO Max accounted for 1.3% of total use.)