# Remember the vaguely nightmarish free 4K TV that serves you ads on a second screen? It's off to a rough start — but apparently, actually does make money

> Telly promised to deliver 500,000 TVs, available for free. Spoiler: it hasn't These smart TVs are free in exchange for high numbers of ads and tracking Use of content recognition tech can be controversial Way back in…

- **Source:** [TechRadar](https://www.techradar.com/televisions/remember-the-vaguely-nightmarish-free-4k-tv-that-serves-you-ads-on-a-second-screen-its-off-to-a-rough-start-but-apparently-actually-does-make-money?utm_source=gearopen.com&utm_medium=referral&utm_campaign=feed&utm_content=6977b3548db2c1c3cb88911e)
- **Published:** 2026-01-26
- **Category:** Audio & Video
- **Tags:** #free #smart #actually #apparently #does #money #nightmarish #remember
- **Canonical:** http://localhost:4321/a/6977b3548db2c1c3cb88911e

---

_GearOpen's distilled summary. The full original article is published at TechRadar (source link above); GearOpen does not republish the source's full text._