Why cheap TVs carry so much advertising
· 3 min read
A 55-inch television can cost less than a mid-range phone. That is not industrial magic: it is a business model, and understanding it explains everything else on this site.
The device is not the product
Several manufacturers have publicly acknowledged selling hardware on minimal margins, and in some cases below cost, because the business is in what comes after:
- Viewing data, sold to the audience measurement industry.
- Advertising on the home screen and in the system.
- Commissions from platforms for prominent placement and for subscriptions signed up from the television.
A connected television generates revenue across its entire working life. The device is the cost of acquiring the customer.
Why that has consequences
It explains things that otherwise make no sense:
Why advertising cannot be switched off in the settings. It is not a design oversight. It is the revenue.
Why televisions stop being updated so soon. Once sold, the incentive is for you to buy another, not for the one you have to last ten years.
Why initial setup pushes so hard for your acceptance. That consent screen is what enables the whole model.
Why the software is worse than the hardware. The panel has to be good to sell. The software only has to be adequate.
What can be done about it
Individually: reduce what can be reduced, which is what the rest of this site is about.
At the point of purchase, the uncomfortable conclusion: if you want a television without this model on top, you have to pay for it. Professional monitors and signage panels carry none of this, and cost considerably more per inch.
The practical alternative
Buy the cheapest television with a good panel, never connect it to the internet, and put all the intelligence in an external device you can control and replace.
It comes out cheaper than the expensive television and gives you more control. We develop it in using your TV as a monitor.
Why this site exists
Because there are millions of televisions that work perfectly and have become irritating through business decisions, not wear. Throwing away a panel with ten years of service left in it for that is a waste, and largely an avoidable one.