Telly
Free dual-screen smart TVs funded by persistent advertising.
Available information varies by company and source.
Profile record updated:
Company facts
- Official name
- Telly, Inc.
- Entity type
- COMPANY
- Company size
- 10–49
- Market role
- Media Sales House
- Official website
- telly.com
What Telly does
Telly operates a subsidised hardware-plus-media model. It places proprietary smart TVs into households at zero upfront consumer cost, then monetises the resulting audience attention through direct and programmatic advertising sold against a persistent second screen and connected TV inventory. Consumer engagement with streaming, widgets and gaming increases device usage and ad exposure, which in turn supports advertiser demand and funds further hardware distribution.
Category differentiation
This is the ad-supported dual-screen smart TV company, not a generic television listing service or a conventional TV manufacturer focused on hardware sales. It is differentiated from Roku, Samsung and Vizio by giving hardware away and monetising persistent second-screen advertising.
Strategic context
AI-supported assessment from the existing company research; distinguish interpretation from sourced facts.
Telly, Inc. is a consumer connected TV company that distributes dual-screen smart televisions to households at no upfront cost. Its core product combines a primary 55-inch 4K display with a secondary smart screen that remains available for widgets, information and advertising, creating a persistent in-home ad surface alongside standard streaming and entertainment use cases. The platform also includes built-in features such as casual gaming, video calling and other smart TV functions intended to increase engagement and time spent on the device. The company makes money primarily by selling advertising inventory shown on the secondary screen and through connected TV placements, including programmatic demand integrations. Its paying customers are brands, media agencies and programmatic buyers, while household consumers are the end users of the free hardware. The model therefore combines consumer hardware distribution, media inventory monetisation and audience data signals derived from viewing behaviour to support ad targeting and measurement.
Company news briefing
Briefing updated:
Telly has advanced its monetisation strategy by making its secondary home screen ads available for programmatic buying via Magnite's SpringServe ad server, with demand secured from The Trade Desk and Teads. To support this rollout, the company leverages first-party data and Automatic Content Recognition (ACR) for targeting, while collaborating with the IAB Tech Lab to standardise home screen ad specifications within the bidstream. Furthermore, Telly continues to offer extended ad formats of up to five minutes through private marketplace deals.
Business model & monetisation
The company uses an ad-supported model rather than a traditional consumer hardware sales model. Consumers receive the television for free, while revenue is generated through media inventory sales on the always-on secondary screen and connected TV placements on the main display. Commercial mechanisms appear to include direct ad sales, programmatic monetisation through exchange partners, and data-driven improvement of targeting and measurement. This is best described as ad-funded hardware distribution supported by media monetisation and audience data signals.
- Second-screen advertising inventory
- Ad-supported media sales
- Connected TV ad placements on main display
- Ad-supported media sales
- Programmatic demand monetisation
- Percentage take-rate on media transactions
- Audience data-driven targeting and measurement value
- Embedded monetisation within media sales
Products & capabilities
No products with linked sources are available in this view.
Products & market categories
Recent recorded signals
Dates refer to the source publication. Older entries are historical context, not evidence of a new event.
Telly Makes Home Screen Ads Available Programmatically
CTV · Recorded impact score: 3/5
Telly, the startup offering free smart TVs in exchange for data and ad exposure, has made its home screen ads available for programmatic buying. The ads, displayed on a secondary screen below the main TV screen, are delivered via Magnite's SpringServe ad server, with demand from The Trade Desk and Teads. Telly is working with the IAB Tech Lab to standardize home screen ad specs in the bidstream. The company leverages deep first-party data from customer questionnaires and ACR data for targeting. Telly also offers longer home screen ads, up to five minutes, via private marketplace deals, and cites a streaming client achieving five times more app opens with five-minute versus two-minute ads. While some buyers like PMG are enthusiastic, sustained investment remains uncertain.
- Telly has made its home screen ads available for programmatic buying.
- Telly uses Magnite's SpringServe ad server for ad delivery.
Tovala Bets on Subscriptions, Not Ads, for Growth
Commerce & Retail Media (D2C subscription strategy) · Recorded impact score: 2/5
Tovala, a company founded in 2015 that combines a countertop oven with a weekly meal-kit subscription, is prioritizing subscriptions and rigorous incrementality testing over advertising as its primary revenue strategy. CMO Scott Braun, who joined the company one month prior to the article and previously led marketing at Drizly (acquired by Uber) and SimpliSafe, said Tovala has not pursued in‑device retail or brand advertising and is unlikely to monetize the oven itself through ads. The oven retails standalone for roughly $350 but is offered on Tovala’s site bundled with six weeks of meals over six months for $69. Tovala continuously runs incrementality studies across channels (branded search, podcasts) and is exploring limited brand integrations or subscription bundle partnerships (e.g., Instacart, Uber Eats) rather than turning its hardware into an ad surface.
- Tovala was founded in 2015 and combines a countertop oven appliance with a weekly meal-kit subscription.
- Scott Braun joined Tovala as chief marketing officer one month before publication; he previously led marketing at Drizly (acquired by Uber) and SimpliSafe.
Explore company relationships
Questions about Telly
What is Telly?
Telly is a company that provides free dual-screen smart TVs and monetises them through advertising sold on a persistent secondary screen and connected TV inventory.
Who uses Telly?
Households use the free smart TVs, while brands, agencies and programmatic buyers use Telly’s advertising inventory to reach in-home audiences.
How does Telly make money?
It makes money primarily from advertising, including direct and programmatic sales of second-screen and connected TV ad inventory that subsidise the free hardware.
Sources & coverage
This profile uses public, official and technically observable information. Missing information does not prove that a product or relationship does not exist. The list below does not imply that every profile statement has been verified.
19 publicly documented primary sources and citations linked across the market graph.
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