Observed Signal · Sep 9, 2026 · Product Launch · Source: AdExchanger · Impact: 3/5 · Sentiment: Positive
Telly Makes Home Screen Ads Available Programmatically
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's move to programmatic home screen ads represents an innovative ad format on CTV, but it is not a major industry shift. The collaboration with IAB Tech Lab on standardization could influence CTV ad formats, but the company is a niche player.
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Key Takeaways & Evidence Grounding
- Telly has made its home screen ads available for programmatic buying.
- Telly uses Magnite's SpringServe ad server for ad delivery.
- The Trade Desk and Teads are among the demand sources for Telly's ad inventory.
- Telly is collaborating with the IAB Tech Lab on standardizing home screen ad specs, with signal updates finalized in July 2026.
- Longer home screen ads of up to five minutes are available via private marketplace deals.
Connected Companies & Entities
6 Entities mapped“Telly, the startup that gives away free smart TVs in exchange for data and ad exposure, is making its home screen ads available for brands t...”
“Telly uses Magnite’s SpringServe ad server to deliver the ads, with demand coming from The Trade Desk, Teads and others.”
“Telly uses Magnite’s SpringServe ad server to deliver the ads, with demand coming from The Trade Desk, Teads and others.”
“Telly uses Magnite’s SpringServe ad server to deliver the ads, with demand coming from The Trade Desk, Teads and others.”
“Ad tech platform Nexxen, for instance, made its native home screen ads programmatically available across a growing list of TV manufacturers ...”
“The home screen has always been a powerful front door for us to engage viewers, said Mike Treon, head of CTV and video strategy at PMG.”
Ontology Mapping & Concepts
Related Market Signals & Shifts
Recent verified developments and strategic activity across this market segment.
Home Screen Ads Are TV's New Front Page
The article argues that streaming home screens have evolved into television’s new front page, offering high-attention, native ad opportunities. Citing industry research, it reports that home screen placements deliver stronger attention and lower media waste versus traditional formats (LG Ad Solutions, an Omnicom-backed study) and that a Telly case study showed a synchronized home screen campaign lifted brand recall by 250% versus traditional placements alone. Constraints such as limited inventory and inconsistent formats are being addressed: platform UX changes (Samsung Smart Hub, LG webOS), persistent home-screen designs (Telly), and emerging standards from the IAB Tech Lab’s Ad Format Hero Taskforce aim to enable programmatic scale. Magnite’s SpringServe has begun enabling programmatic transactions for home-screen units and plans full programmatic bidding with major DSPs in Q2.
TiVo Opens TV Homescreen to Programmatic Ads
TiVo has partnered with OpenGlass to open its TV interface in the U.S. to programmatic advertisers, making its homescreen inventory available across millions of households via pay TV operator partnerships. The offering includes large-format homescreen ad units (up to 90% of the screen) with rich video and custom end screens and is being marketed to advertisers across categories such as retail, automotive, finance, travel, telecommunications, and consumer goods. The move follows similar home-screen monetization efforts by Roku, Amazon (Fire TV), Google TV, and other streaming providers. TiVo and OpenGlass say the partnership aims to give brands scalable, automated access to premium front-of-screen inventory during the influential moment when viewers turn on their TVs.
Teads Expands Home Screen Ad Offering
Teads is extending its home screen advertising capabilities beyond the buy-side by offering home screen infrastructure and ad-serving support to the sell-side. Historically sourcing home screen inventory from TV OEMs and individual apps to enable advertiser campaigns, the company now helps publishers and other sellers spin up home screen products, adds creative features, and connects them to demand. Emily Brewer, Head of Business Development, CTV Supply at Teads, says demand is growing on both buy- and sell-sides, with more apps running home screen units and luxury brands investing in the format. The interview was filmed in Cannes and published by VideoWeek on 2026-07-15.
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