Telly (www.freetelly.com), the ultimate free TV upgrade for the living room, released a slate of new announcements today during the 2024 Consumer Electronics Show in Las Vegas, including previewing one of its revolutionary AI innovations – Telly’s new voice assistant powered by ChatGPT.
After exiting a two year stealth period in May of 2023, Telly embarked on a nationwide public beta program delivering its free 55” dual screen TVs to thousands of homes across more than forty states in the second half of the year. At CES, where the company is showcasing its first-of-its-kind dual screen smart TV to advertisers and retail partners, Telly shared new insights into consumer usage and advertiser engagement.
Consumer Response Overwhelmingly Positive
TVs have failed to evolve for nearly a decade. Telly believes the television should be the “one and all” device for today’s connected home. The initial response from consumers and advertisers has been overwhelmingly positive.
- Usage: Telly usage is more than twice the national hourly average, highlighting the fact that it is being used as the primary TV in the household and that it is being used for far more than just watching TV.
“Consumers love Telly. Usage rates are far outpacing our expectations and are more than twice the national average for household living room TV viewing time. It’s clear Telly is used as the primary TV in the home and that it is used for a lot more than just watching TV. Just as the iPhone’s use cases go beyond the ‘phone’ on the go, Telly consumers use the device beyond TV in the home. Zoom video calling, music, video games, voice assistant and more, are all built-in, and all for free,” said Ilya Pozin, Telly CEO and Founder.
Telly Advertising Driving 300% Greater Impact
Telly released the findings of several advertiser impact studies conducted in Q4 showing the TV’s unique ability to drive awareness and action, including a study demonstrating that partner Kia’s advertising on Telly outperformed every other medium from digital to mobile to traditional TV and streaming.
- #1 Ad Recall: Kia partnered with Telly to launch persistent advertising, leveraging Telly’s full take-over ad units on its integrated second smart screen. The campaign outperformed every other auto manufacturer tested delivering recall results that were up to 300% higher than competitor companies measured in the control group (control group ads appeared across broadcast and streaming commercial breaks which the study showed drive a lower ad recall vs ads that stay persistent on the second screen). Telly’s second screen advertising delivered a 60%+ recall rate for Kia.
“Brands advertising on TV acknowledge how difficult it is to find and follow audiences in today’s fragmented environment,” said Russell Wagner, Vice President and Head of Marketing for Kia America. “Telly, with its unique model and innovative ad inventory, solves that problem. Kia, as an early adopter, is thrilled with our results on Telly and excited to scale with them.”
“Telly is where brand awareness meets performance on the biggest screen in the home,” offered Pozin. “We are incredibly excited to be debuting the kind of performance ads that brands have been asking for that allow for deep engagement right on the TV screen. There is no other platform like Telly that combines the visual storytelling of TV with the persistence and reach of an always on second screen with the targeting, data, engagement and measurement of digital.”
New Performance Ad-Tech for the Big Screen
Telly also announced a number of new performance advertising capabilities at CES including:
- Integrated Browser: Telly unveiled its newly integrated browser at CES that works on both the top theater display and the bottom smart screen, allowing ads to be fully actionable and drive performance and ROAS as brands would only expect on mobile and web. The integrated browser enables ads to be actioned directly from the remote control. Because Telly enables a consumer to pre-save purchasing and shipping information, navigation and conversion become seamless, eliminating many of the traditional t-commerce hurdles in television advertising. Brands love the new feature as Telly utilizes existing landing pages to drive conversions, like scheduling a test drive for a favorite auto brand.
- Full T-Commerce Capabilities: Telly lets consumers begin to engage with ads and shop on any website from Walmart to Amazon to millions of businesses big and small throughout the US. Ads can also be engaged on the second screen through smart-screen-optimized web pages, allowing for seamless engagement without disrupting content viewing. Ordering your favorite pizza in minutes while keeping your eyes on the game has never been easier (or even possible before!).
- QR Codes That Work Smarter: Telly is seeing more than 2x higher action on QR codes versus those on standard TV ads due to its persistent second screen. Actionable ads need more screen time to maximize impact and Telly’s second persistent screen delivers the kind of QR code click through performance impossible to replicate during a 15 or 30 second TV spot slotted in between content.
“We’re transforming the biggest screen in the home into the most powerful retail channel since the internet,” said Pozin.
Previews New Consumer Features
Telly also previewed a number of new consumer features at CES including:
- ‘Hey Telly’ AI Powered Voice Assistant: Telly previewed its groundbreaking Voice Assistant “Hey Telly”, integrated with ChatGPT and other advanced AI technologies delivering consumers a completely transformed home entertainment and the virtual voice assistant experience. This innovative addition to Telly’s lineup brings advanced AI capabilities into the living room, enhancing a user’s interactions with their television. The AI powered ‘Hey Telly’ assistant offers customizable avatars and personalities, adapting and personalizing to each user’s preferences over time. This feature promises to make Telly not just a television, but a valuable, interactive family member and further delivers on Telly’s promise to be the smartest TV ever built.
- Zoom Watch Party: Zoom Video Conferencing has been a hit with Telly households on the main theater display, and now Telly brings it to the second smart screen. This new feature allows Telly homes to watch their favorite shows, movies, live sports, or even play video games, on the top theater display, while engaging their family and friends using video chat, on the bottom smart screen. Laugh together watching your favorite comedy, share a good cry with the latest drama or cheer on together your favorite teams as if you are sitting right next to each other. This is only possible with a dual screen TV.
New Programmatic and Media Agency Partnerships Accelerate Revenue Growth
Telly also announced new partnerships with leading digital and programmatic advertising technology companies including agreements with Google, The Trade Desk, OpenX, Nexxen, TVScientific and more. In addition to these new partnerships, Telly also announced two new agency relationships designed to innovate the future of TV advertising and accelerate advertiser adoption of the platform.
- PMG & Telly Enter Strategic Partnership: Telly and PMG announced they had entered into a strategic partnership with the global media agency agreeing to scale its advertising commitments with Telly as the company continues to expand its TV distribution across the US.
“While TV advertising has a simple business model, it’s now a very complicated business,” says Doug Paladino, programmatic lead for PMG (which recently acquired Camelot Strategic Marketing & Media). “Finding and following an audience has never been more difficult. Telly offers an innovative way to engage with hard-to-reach consumers, and we’re excited to see the performance it delivers for our clients.” - GroupM Innovator Accelerator Program: Telly and GroupM announced that the company was named a participant in GroupM’s Ad Innovation Accelerator program designed to deliver advertisers new opportunities that go beyond the traditional 30-second spot. Telly joins Disney, Roku, YouTube and NBCUniversal as initial participants in the Innovation Accelerator initiative.
“Telly offers advertisers something no one else can offer: 100% viewed, completely incremental CTV inventory future proofed for a privacy first world through our direct relationship with the consumer. When you combine that powerful mix with Telly’s unique ability to monetize 100% of viewership time, it is easy to see that while still early, our annualized advertising revenue per household is already multiple factors greater than everyone else in the market today,” offered Pozin.
About Telly
Telly, the first Dual Screen Smart TV, is the ultimate free television upgrade for the living room. Founded by the industry leader who introduced the world to the first ever free streaming platform Pluto TV, Telly completes the vision for a world where both TV content and the TV itself are entirely free to consumers. Visit www.freetelly.com today to reserve your Telly and discover for yourself why the living room will never be the same.