LG announced that it is starting to display advertising on the screensavers of its TVs. In other words, advertising becomes an inevitable companion to television viewing – even when the viewer is not actually watching anything.
Image source: flatpanelshd.com
As one might expect, the Korean manufacturer did not publicly announce to consumers the launch of a new advertising format – the announcement dated September 5 was addressed to advertisers. Viewers predictably don’t like it, but LG and other TV manufacturers are increasingly adding advertising to the programming portion of their products. The FlatpanelsHD resource was one of the first to notice the innovation – full-screen advertising appeared on the newest flagship LG G4 TV even before the usual screen saver turned on. And it was localized in accordance with the region specified when setting up the TV. Third-party products and services were advertised, as well as the free streaming channel LG Channels, which is itself funded by advertising.
Advertising is enabled in your TV settings by default and can be turned off. Although other manufacturers are still using screensavers to show something more pleasant, such as works of art or photographs taken by the owner. LG AD Solutions said that splash screen advertising runs “on the home screen, LG Channels and the content store on LG smart TVs.” The idea is to put “screen downtime to good use, turning what might be perceived as downtime into a valuable engagement opportunity.” Such advertising, say LG AD Solutions, “increases brand awareness on average by 2.5 times.” “In the past, a splash screen ad could mean viewers had left the room, but today’s viewing habits are significantly different. Now 93% of viewers multitask: texting, shopping, watching social networks or playing on their phones,” LG AD Solutions CTO Dave Rudnick told Ars Technica.
Now LG is actively expanding its business of selling advertising and tracking viewers. Thus, the company has a partnership project with Nielsen, which sends data summaries with recognized content from LG TVs. Previously, the Korean manufacturer also talked about plans to expand its hardware business into a “media and entertainment platform,” including advertising sales. The LG AD Solutions division was also born, where new ways of displaying advertising and tracking users of smart TVs are being developed. The production of TVs for LG is becoming an increasingly problematic area in terms of revenue and further growth – at the same time, the TVs themselves are becoming more advanced, and new functions can be added with software updates. And it’s increasingly difficult for advertisers to reach TV viewers who are abandoning traditional TV channels in favor of streaming services that don’t include advertising.