Looking to keep pace with major commerce companies' close ties with smart TV streaming platforms, Walmart is in talks to buy Vizio Holdings -- the smart TV set manufacturer and growing smart TV
advertising platform -- for $2 billion, according to a report in
The Wall Street Journal. Representatives from Walmart and Vizio did not return phone calls from
Television News Dailyby press time.
Analysts believe Walmart is looking to keep pace with Amazon -- especially with connected TV and video-based media sales -- when it comes to
performance-based marketing.
Performance-based marketing for Walmart could expand to making media deals with advertisers on Vizio's smart TV platform. Those buys can then be tracked to
actual retail sales of those products in Walmart stores and via Walmart's online business.
Walmart has already been successful with its retail media platform Walmart Connect -- which made $2.7
billion in 2022 and around $3.5 billion in 2023, and is projected to reach $4 billion in 2024.
advertisement
advertisement
Walmart is looking to expand its performance-based business. One analyst believes it could become
a major seller of video content.
“It would allow what has become a very large seller of performance-based media to become an even bigger one,” says Brian Wieser, media and
financial analyst for Madison and Wall. “A Walmart (or Amazon, for that matter) is arguably better positioned to sell video-based media as part of a performance budget than a traditional seller
of media, in part because marketers generally are more likely to believe Walmart's claims and perceived performance, whether within Walmart or outside of it.”
Wieser says Walmart could
meaningfully expand Vizio's annual revenue from advertising sales on its smart TV platform, which he says total around $500 million a year.
Data would be another strong piece of business for
Walmart in terms of selling marketplace information to media companies. “Vizio has itself become a critical source to the industry through its Inscape business.”
Tuesday trading of Vizio Holdings stock closed up 25% to $9.75.