The Infinite Brief

The data can include the types of shows you watch, which ads you watch, and your approximate location.

Smart TVs can be sold at or near cost to consumers because Vizio is able to monetize those TVs through data collection, advertising, and selling direct-to-consumer entertainment (movies, etc.).

Vizio’s chief technology officer Bill Baxter says that without that revenue stream, consumers would be paying more up front. “We’d collect a little bit more margin at retail to offset it.”