After having sold the Pluto TV service, which he created with Ryan Reynolds, to Viacom for the sum of 340 million dollars, we no longer really heard of Ilya Pozin. The latter was however actively working on the development of a new concept, free TV in homes, against the presence of advertisements that were always visible.
The word to Ilya Pozin, boss of the Telly company
Ilya Pozin believes it, Ilya Pozin affirms it, this concept carried by the company called Telly is even more revolutionary than Pluto TV and its impact on the content market and the TV market will be of capital importance. Like the iPhone when it was launched, which suddenly, all of a sudden, “outdated” digital cameras, GPS devices, the MP3 player…. The figure of 500,000 television sets is far from being an end point, Ilya Pozin is already mentioning other shipments of several other hundreds of thousands of TV sets (even millions) very quickly afterwards. With larger screen sizes beyond 55 inches. He says, “Telly offers the TV completely free. It will be fully funded by advertising and affiliate revenue. Likewise, it specifies that all TV Telly functionalities comply with the confidentiality rules in force.
TV Telly, késako?
The 55'' (140cm) Ultra HD 4K HDR LCD TV on offer is far from a discount model, with a retail value of around $1,000 according to Ilya Pozin. It has three HDMI inputs, a digital tuner and an integrated sound bar. Not having any internal applications, and unable to install any, these screens are supplied with a Chromecast Google TV key (free too). Google Assistant and Google Meet are therefore on the menu.
TV Telly, second screen dedicated to business
Under the soundbar is a second rectangular LCD screen of the 32/9 "ultrawide" type, the right part of which is occupied by a square space with a diagonal of 9'' (approximately 23 cm) dedicated to advertising . Namely, this space is always on whether the TV is on or off, and even if no one is present in the room. The rest of the screen displays news, sports scores, the stock market, the weather, traffic… Ilya Pozin is even planning to offer real-time sports betting on the second screen or the possibility of ordering a pizza from Pizza Hut. Good news, the lower screen can be dimmed (even the one dedicated to advertising) when a film or series is shown on the upper screen. As we can see, Telly's strategy is to transform the television into a living room hub through which pass hundreds or even thousands of applications for streaming, music, video games, fitness, videoconferencing, etc.
Telly, experienced management team
Launched two years ago, Telly convinced experienced and solid investors, the companies LightShed Partners and Vayner Media, or even the advertising company MNTN for a valuation of 100 million dollars. Last point, Ilya Pozin has surrounded himself with big names, Telly's management includes, for example, Sascha Prueter, former Google product manager for Android TV, Matt Katrosar responsible for strategic partnerships (previously with Pluto TV and CBS), Bob Ivins responsible for of data strategy (ex-Nielsen) and Neal Tiles chief marketing officer (former president of G4 and executive vice president of marketing at DirecTV).
If you are planning to immigrate to the United States, or if you know of a home in the United States that might be of interest, go to the following address to apply for a free TV Telly: www.freetelly.com