Walmart is acquiring Vizio in a deal valued at $2.3 billion. The retail giant is following a template established by Amazon by expanding into entertainment media and connected TV advertising. The majority of Vizio’s growth from the last five years has come from ads on its WatchFree+ platform, which offers more than 260 channels, Walmart said touting a deal point. Vizio’s primary business is manufacturing value-priced TV sets. It also makes soundbars. The deal will instantly vault Walmart into a mix of players including Amazon, Roku, Samsung Ads and Google’s YouTube. Continue reading Walmart Bolsters Advertising Business with Vizio Acquisition

In a CES 2024 keynote address, Walmart President and CEO Doug McMillon and other key execs from the company offered a look at how the retail giant is putting technologies like drones and augmented reality (AR) as well as generative AI and other artificial intelligence tools to improve the customer shopping experience. Walmart unveiled new products, including a pair of AI-powered platforms for managing search for replenishment of products. In addition, a new AR social commerce platform, now in beta, called “Shop with Friends” was also highlighted. Continue reading CES: Walmart Introduces AI Reorders and ‘Shop with Friends’

Las Vegas becomes the global center of technology and innovation as more than 130,00 attendees, business leaders, and over 4,000 exhibitors arrive for the start of CES 2024, January 9-12. Across more than 2.5 million square feet of exhibit space and 250 conference sessions, the ETC@USC team of reporters and analysts will cover stories of greatest interest, importance, and potential impact to the future of media and entertainment. Smart TVs and next-gen displays; the latest in processor upgrades; AR, VR and XR; security; mobility and robotics are among the themes we expect to take center stage, all of which will be tied in one way or another to AI. Continue reading CES 2024 Expects 130,000 Attendees and 4,000+ Exhibitors

Walmart has doubled the size of its Marketplace platform in the past 18 months, with about 100,000 active sellers. Now, the company — which receives seller applications at the rate of about 20,000 per month, about 10 percent of which get approved — feels it is within striking distance of Amazon. Some say Walmart has been emulating the moves of the Seattle-based e-retail giant, including now adding sponsored video ad units in time for the holiday shopping season. The Walmart+ online brand has been emphasizing convenience, membership, free delivery and even a Paramount+ Essential plan, similar to Amazon’s approach of offering Prime Video. Continue reading Walmart Extends E-Commerce Push, Adds Sponsored Videos

Walmart is putting generative AI in the hands of roughly 50,000 non-store U.S. employees who will have access to My Assistant, an LLM trained on information. From speeding the drafting process to serving as a creative partner and summarizing documents, “My Assistant has the potential to change how our associates work and solve problems,” Walmart said, emphasizing the launch goes beyond productivity gains. “We believe the key to unlocking transformation lies in the creativity and innovation of our associates. Ideally, this technology will free them from monotonous, repetitive tasks, allowing more time and focus for improving the customer/member experience.”  Continue reading Walmart Is ‘Empowering’ 50,000 U.S. Associates with GenAI

Netflix continues to expand its game ecosystem. The company released a TV game controller for iOS devices earlier this month and has just begun beta testing its game streaming on TVs in Canada and the UK, with plans to begin tests for computer play in the coming weeks. Participating in the tests are partner devices including Amazon Fire TV Streaming Media Players, Chromecast with Google TV, LG TVs, Nvidia Shield TV, Roku devices and TVs, Samsung Smart TVs, and Walmart Onn, with plans for more manufacturers to be added on an ongoing basis. Continue reading Netflix Beta Tests Its Game Streaming on TVs and Computers

Microsoft is launching Bing Chat Enterprise, a business-focused version of Bing Chat with data privacy and governance controls. The company is also introducing Visual Search in Bing Chat and new AI features for Azure, revealed at its Inspire 2023 conference this week. In addition, the cloud-based Copilot plan “combines the power of large language models with your data in the Microsoft Graph and Microsoft 365 apps” for a new way of working using only natural language prompts. Currently in early access, Copilot will be priced at $30 per user per month for Microsoft 365 E3, E5, Business Standard and Business Premium subscribers. Continue reading Microsoft Intros Bing Chat Enterprise, New AI Tools for Azure

Video streaming tech company Roku has partnered with e-commerce platform Shopify to offer television viewers the ability to purchase products using their TV remotes. When a Roku Action Ad appears featuring a Shopify merchant, viewers can press OK on their Roku remote to get more information about the product and click to purchase directly from their TV. Consumers will be able to check out using Roku Pay. Roku explains Action Ads as “advertisements on Roku streaming devices that provide a down funnel action, such as sending users a text, scanning a QR code, or making a purchase.” Continue reading Roku Lets Customers Make Shopify Purchases with Remote

Elon Musk and new Twitter CEO Linda Yaccarino shared a platform vision heavy on creator-commerce partnerships as well as video, which has grown vertical engagement to “more than 10 percent” of user time on the social service. The duo said on a video call with investors last week that the company is pursuing collaborations with entertainment figures, politicians, media publishers and payment services, and that Twitter is securing “money transmitter licenses” in each of the 50 U.S. states as part of Musk’s vision to turn the service into a super app. Continue reading Twitter’s New Business Plan Marks Shift to Video, Commerce

AMC Theatres is closing its on-demand movie streaming service and transferring users and their content libraries to Vudu, a digital rental and sales streaming platform owned by NBCUniversal’s Fandango. Beginning last week, customers were invited to transfer their AMC Theatres On Demand accounts to Vudu, where they will be “upgraded to the highest-quality format” the platform offers, including 4K Ultra HD. Migrating customers will also receive 15 percent off any titles purchased within their first month of Vudu service. Since 2019 the theater chain has been offering AMC Stubs loyalty members on-demand movie delivery. Continue reading AMC Theatres Ends Streaming and Ports Customers to Vudu

Roku introduced new ad products this week at the IAB NewFronts, touting opportunities to advertise on Roku’s home screen and within original content. That also includes its screensaver — dubbed Roku City — which McDonald’s is taking over for a summer promo. Roku also said it will be using contextual AI to automatically insert ads at appropriate moments in Roku Channel programming. In a twist on programmatic, Roku will train artificial intelligence on its advertisers’ marketing campaigns and messaging goals then have it scour the library for “iconic plot moments” that offer a good fit, inserting ads in real time. Continue reading Roku Rolls Out New Ad Products and Contextual AI Insertions

Roku managed a 1 percent increase in Q1 revenue on sales of $741 million. While sales in is platform segment were down 1 percent, to $635 million, the company had a positive performance on the streaming side, with 1.6 million active accounts added to take it past 70 million. Streaming service distribution, including FAST channels, is part of Roku’s platform services, along with ad sales, media and entertainment promotions and Roku Pay. In Q1, the Roku operating system was again the top-selling smart TV OS, with a record-high 43 percent of TV unit share in the United States. Continue reading Roku Adds 1.6M Streaming Accounts but Revenue Sluggish

Walmart has rolled out a new online look in a bid to catch up with Amazon, simultaneously advancing its conversational AI capabilities using OpenAI’s GPT-4 and Google’s BERT. Starting last year, generative AI has reportedly been a major initiative of the Arkansas-based retailer in key areas including search, supply chain management and virtual shopping, although it is only now that the company is emphasizing the tools to customers by expanding its offerings like Text to Shop. The text- or voice-activated way to add items to Walmart.com shopping carts is one of nearly two dozen conversational AI experiences at Walmart. Continue reading Walmart Leans into AI, Retools Site to Compete with Amazon

Roku, whose software the firm claims is used in a third of U.S. TVs, will release its own line of televisions this year. The San Jose-based company, known for its smart TV OS, plans two models: the Roku Select and a higher-end Roku Plus, according to an announcement at CES 2023. Available in 11 models ranging from 24- to 75-inches, the Roku Select and Plus Series TVs will focus on streaming features associated with the brand, with prices ranging from $119 to $999. The new Roku TVs will include access to free live TV, news, and sports, plus popular Roku features like Find My Remote and Private Listening. Continue reading CES: OS-Supplier Roku to Launch Its Own Line of Smart TVs

The NPD Group’s Paul Gagnon and Ben Arnold presented “7 Ways the CE Consumer Has Changed” in the last few years. U.S. consumer attitudes and behaviors changed from early-pandemic lockdown to the slow reopening, and then the fear of inflation and recession. In general, consumers are buying more for individuals than for shared home experiences, they have equipped themselves for remote work which may suppress future sales until they are ready to upgrade, and they buy when bargains appear even if they plan to actually open them for a holiday or special occasion. Continue reading CES: The NPD Group Analyzes Changes in Consumer Trends