Telly opens programmatic home screen ads with Magnite and The Trade Desk

Telly, the American maker of free ad-supported television sets, said on 10 September that its home screen advertising can now be bought programmatically. The company announced it with Magnite, whose SpringServe system serves the ads. The Trade Desk and Teads are named as buying platforms.

Magnite serves the tiles, The Trade Desk and Teads buy them

Telly sets carry a second screen below the main picture. Brands can place a tile there that stays on view while someone watches, rather than waiting for a break. The units are built on the IAB Native Tile standard, so a buyer does not need a separate setup for this one manufacturer.

That standard part matters more than the launch. The IAB Tech Lab settled signalling specifications for connected TV ad formats in July, and home screen space only becomes a real line in a media plan once it can be bought the same way everywhere.

A five-minute private marketplace sits next to the 30-second spot

Telly is also selling longer placements through private marketplace deals, up to five minutes. That is a different product from a television commercial. It assumes somebody chooses to watch, the way they choose a trailer.

The company reports an entertainment brand seeing five times more app opens from a five-minute campaign than from a 30-second one, and a 22 percent higher conversion rate. A fast food campaign is said to have delivered nearly five times the engagement of a 30-second spot. All these figures come from Telly and Magnite, with no outside verification.

Nexxen, V and TiVo already sell the same screen

Telly is not first here. Nexxen, V and TiVo already offer programmatic home screen placements, which is why Telly leans on its own device data as the difference. Every set maker is chasing the same thing: money from the screen people see before they pick anything.

The wider pattern is visible elsewhere. Sony turned the PlayStation 5 into an ad-supported TV channel, and public broadcasters keep adding inventory, as when ZDF added themed channels to its streaming app.

What a buyer should ask before taking the tile

Two questions decide whether this is worth a test. First, how many Telly sets are actually in homes, because the company has not published that figure. Second, how a tile that is always on screen gets measured, since a persistent placement does not fit a standard impression count. The people who write those rules are in the middle of a reshuffle, with a new president at Prebid.org from 15 September.