Interview: Telly’s Free Smart TVs Aren’t Ready to Ship, but Company Working on Making Them Home Entertainment Hub
The old saying goes that if something seems too good to be true, it probably is. So, you would forgive consumers for being suspicious of a company offering to give them a revolutionary smart TV that comes with a soundbar and a second screen at absolutely no cost. However, that is the premise behind the new start-up company Telly. Founded by Pluto TV founder Ilya Pozin, Telly is planning to send out 55-inch smart TVs complete with a built-in soundbar and second screen to 500,000 people across the country, and it won’t cost them a single cent.
This somewhat unfathomable arrangement hinges on the fact that streaming generates a lot of personal data about TV users’ viewing and purchasing habits, and — most importantly — that information is increasingly valuable to advertisers.
So, while these free TVs won’t cost users any money, they will cost them some personal information. Partially because the Telly TVs have not yet begun shipping, there are unsurprisingly a number of unanswered questions around the revolutionary business idea. To get some clarity on some of those topics, The Streamable spoke with Telly’s chief strategy officer Dallas Lawrence.
“Telly is the first-ever dual-screen TV,” he said. “The top theater screen is where consumers can access all their favorite streaming apps on their preferred operating system by plugging it into one of the three HDMI ports. We include a Google dongle for those who need one. The second screen, the smart screen, is where we will have several apps built in for the consumer, from a built-in voice assistant, Zoom video calling, video games, news, sports, weather feeds, and much more.”
Following reports in early June that over 250,000 had signed up for Telly’s distribution list — even though that does not guarantee them a smart TV — the company indicated that it would begin shipping its first units by the end of the month, however, that has not yet happened. Telly has yet to confirm when the initial smart TVs will go out, but given the previously published timeline, presumably, that information will be coming soon.
While that major piece of information is still up in the air, Lawrence did clarify a number of other pressing questions, including some of the conditions that users must agree to in order to receive the free TV. Part of the requirements that Telly has previously discussed is that users must agree to use the TV as their primary viewing option in their living room. This is undoubtedly done to generate as much data as possible for the advertisers who are subsidizing the sets, but what will happen if a user just doesn’t watch enough TV to make it worth the advertisers’ investment?
Lawrence said that as long as the users stick to the agreement, there shouldn’t be a problem.
“As we state in our terms and conditions, the Telly must be the primary TV in the household in the living room,” he said. “That requirement will deliver the necessary engagement.”
While that should be reassuring to potential Telly users, there are ramifications for not following the terms of service that must be agreed to before receiving the TV. While making the unit the primary one in the house is one of them, there are others that are just as important to making the arrangement work. For example, the secondary screen will sit below the primary one and will house news, sports, weather, and stock information, as well as ads.
Telly’s agreement mandates that users not cover or otherwise attempt to disable this second screen. While the company has not laid out the processes for which these offenses will be handled, Lawrence did say that the final step will be to charge the TV owners for the TV.
“Consumers who violate our terms and conditions and refuse to return the Telly will be charged the $1,000 value of the television,” he told The Streamable.
Fortunately, though, Telly is working to make these second screens so engaging that people will consider them invaluable to their entertainment experiences. Reports have indicated that eventually, the bottom screen will feature everything from video games to video calls to co-watching functionality. While not all of the planned use cases will be available when the first units launch, the smart TVs will come equipped with a number of exciting features built-in when they initially launch.
“Many of these features are already available for our public beta units shipping in the coming weeks,” Lawrence said. “A stunning six-driver sound bar, Zoom-integrated video calling, 40+ motion tracking video games, plus news, sports, weather, and more are all integrated now. Additionally, Telly will only get better once it is installed in your home. With regularly planned over-the-air updates, we will continue to surprise and delight Telly households with new features and capabilities.”
Additionally, Lawrence said that the company has seen the second screen become popular on its own, independent of the larger, primary screen above. Due to its multiple news crawls and various apps, Telly is finding that it is being used much like a news and entertainment hub, even when its owners aren’t watching TV. The company only expects this to continue as it introduces more apps and functions to the smart screen.
“We are already seeing this happen in our private beta homes,” Lawrence said. “Users are leaving the bottom screen on and we anticipate this will only increase as the second screen becomes the unifying smart hub in the household, connecting all of your smart devices from music to news to voice assistants and more.”
The second screen isn’t the only thing that Telly users can expect to get extra benefits from. The company is planning to roll out a rewards program later this summer that Lawrence told The Streamable will be designed to “drive deeper engagement” and to give Telly consumers ongoing additional value from their smart TVs. The exec didn’t confirm what those rewards would be, but it could be anything from discounts or gift cards from advertisers to hardware or software upgrades, or even just actual money.
Telly plans on working with additional partners in the future that will make the viewing and rewards experiences even better for consumers. One of the ways that the company is hoping to enhance its customers’ experience is by bundling with select partners.
In May, Telly announced that new DIRECTV STREAM customers will receive priority when it comes to being selected to receive one of the company’s free smart TVs. While Lawrence did not disclose any other streaming services or advertisers that his company was planning to partner with, he did indicate that Telly believes that it is ideally suited to work with companies across countless industries.
“This has been a very positive partnership for both DIRECTV and Telly,” he said. “Telly is a perfect partner for multiple bundling opportunities and we will have more to share in the coming months.”
While customers who initially signed up to be part of Telly’s distribution list are likely disappointed that the first round of TVs has not yet begun to ship, Lawrence indicated that the company plans to start contacting the first recipients in the coming weeks. Presuming everything goes according to plan — in terms of distribution, functionality, and rewards — hopefully it will prove to be worth the wait by summer’s end.