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Roku\u2019s upcoming Select and Plus TV sets will be a Best Buy exclusive<\/a>, and the streaming hardware company is planning to cross-pollinate its ad data<\/a> with Best Buy\u2019s own ad system. The partnership includes the whole TV lineup that Roku announced at CES this year<\/a>, and outside brands can partner with the duo to target product ads to Roku viewers based on their Best Buy shopping habits.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The news comes just as Roku released its system OS 12 software that\u2019s rolling out in the coming weeks<\/a>. It\u2019ll include new content discovery features, local news channels, and news recommendations that are curated to streamers and is \u201cpowered by AI,\u201d according to the press release.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n The new system also includes new location-based experiences, which should enable things like personalized sports relevant to the area in the coming weeks. Roku\u2019s updated sports experience highlights relevant games based on viewing habits and will now include CBS Sports, MLB.TV, the NBA app, and NBC Sports.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Effectively, Best Buy will share customers\u2019 purchase history with Roku, and Roku can advertise against it and push targeted ads to users of the streaming devices. While the retailer-to-hardware advertising partnership is fairly unique, smart TV ad tracking has been active for years \u2014 getting companies like Vizio in trouble with the FTC<\/a>. Vizio had been monitoring viewers\u2019 watching habits on over 11 million TVs by default without consent.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n As a result of Vizio\u2019s lawsuit, smart TVs must have the ability to turn off tracking. Vizio\u2019s former CTO Bill Baxter spoke on The Vergecast<\/em> in 2019 explaining that TV companies are in a cutthroat business<\/a>, and ads essentially subsidize the hardware to keep prices low for customers.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n Roku is a company that can deliver both streaming boxes \u2014 and now TVs \u2014 for cheaper, and the deal with Best Buy helps ensure that continues. It\u2019s not likely, however, to make streaming platforms themselves suck any less<\/a>.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n