This isn't just about TVs, though. It's about ads. Vizio's financial results in 2021 made it clear that the firm was making twice as much money from ads, subscriptions and data than it was bringing in from actual TV sales. And that's the business Walmart is really interested in.

Walmart will be tracking what you watch on your Vizio TV. According to FlatpanelsHD, Walmart will be collecting viewing data via a system called ACR, short for Automated Content Recognition. That scans the content you watch to help target ads more effectively.

https://corporate.walmart.com/news/2024/12/03/walmart-completes-acquisition-of-vizio

The acquisition of VIZIO and its SmartCast Operating System allows Walmart to serve its customers in new ways to enhance their shopping journeys. It will also bring to market new and differentiated ways for advertisers to meaningfully connect with customers at scale and boost product discovery, helping brands achieve greater impact from their advertising investments with Walmart Connect – the company’s retail media business in the U.S.

https://www.adweek.com/convergent-tv/walmart-vizio-advertisers-should-know/
https://archive.is/rxddj

Retail media and CTV are becoming more closely linked as companies look to reach consumers in their own closed-loop systems. And for Walmart, the move was “smart and logical,” according to Oz Etzioni, CEO of adtech company Clinch.

“Their already massive global footprint and treasure trove of first-party data, combined with CTV/OTT (over-the-top) channel ownership, will offer advertisers a quite compelling package and more seamless opportunities to activate audiences at scale in a true omnichannel fashion,” Etzioni previously told ADWEEK. “Establishing such a vast and holistic ecosystem will lend itself to seamless opportunities for advertisers to reach their audience in an increasingly relevant and personalized way.”