A new connected-TV ads business is set to launch on Philips Smart TVs in the coming weeks to rival competing solutions from LG, Vizio, and Samsung, according to multiple people familiar with the matter.
The new offering is from TP Vision, a consumer electronics company that operates the Philips Smart TV brand in Europe and other countries outside the US. The ads will run on the forthcoming “Titan” operating system, according to people briefed on the plans. TitanOS will operate as a standalone business unit from TP Vision, a separate person familiar with the matter said.
A message in the source code for the TitanOS.tv website reads: “TitanOS helps you to spend less time searching and more time enjoying your favorite entertainment. You can customize your favorite apps and recommendations list on your home, so endless searching is a thing from the past.”
The operating system will launch on all new Philips TV sets and some older models, the person briefed on the plans said. Ad units on offer will include the homepage, video ads, and some ad-supported TV channels.
Selling ads is attractive to TV manufacturers because it is a high-margin business, especially compared to selling TVs, and it can generate hundreds of millions of dollars in revenue. Vizio, for instance, reported its ad revenue grew 28% to over $300 million in the first nine months of last year. Ad buying giant GroupM estimates global connected-TV ad spend will grow around 14% this year to reach more than $33 billion.
More details are set to be announced about TitanOS on January 22, according to a landing page on its website. Janko Roettegers, author of the Lowpass newsletter, earlier reported that TPV intends to license the TitanOS to other smart TV makers.
Asked to provide a comment, a spokesperson for TP Vision Europe and Americas disputed some of the information about the forthcoming launch but declined to share further details.
Philips TVs currently run the Android TV operating system, which does display some ads on the electronic programming guide already. TP Vision on its website lists Smartclip, Rubicon Project — now known as Magnite, Adform, and Pocket Media as its authorized third-party ad networks.
In the highly competitive connected-TV ads market, scale will be crucial to the success of Titan Ads.
Around 10% of installed smart TVs in western Europe are Philips-branded, according to a 2023 survey of about 17,000 consumers conducted by Ampere Analysis. That’s well behind Samsung, which had a 24% share, and LG, with 15% — but roughly on par with Sony and ahead of other manufacturers, according to Ampere.
That still gives Titan Ads “the degree of scale necessary to have a chance of playing in the ad market,” said Richard Broughton, Ampere Analysis executive director.
Though in a connected-TV landscape where TV manufacturers are battling for ad dollars versus tech giants like Netflix, Amazon, and YouTube, Titan Ads could be too late to the market to win over some advertisers.
As one TV ad buyer put it, “The last thing we need is more hardware fragmentation initiatives. TV makers should be building a common scaled OS.”
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