Access to on demand shows, original series and movies including Spider-Man: No Way Home and P-Valley with the STARZ App, now available on VIZIO Smart TVs

Connected entertainment specialist VIZIO has confirmed that the STARZ app is now available on VIZIO Smart TVs.

Millions of VIZIO users across America can now access STARZ’s premium hit original series and library of on-demand movies. Highlights include STARZ original series from the Power Universe, Outlander and P-Valley, as well as titles such as Spider-Man: No Way Home, Ghostbusters: Afterlife, Venom: Let There Be Carnage, Thor: The Dark World and many others.

“Okay. So that sets up the B part of my question better, which is we held a measurement conference, as you guys know. And iSpot.tv came out and said they're doing $100 million in verification for CTV measurement. So my question is, are you guys getting outflanked in the connected television business by a private guy who's got exclusives on LG's CTV data, plus he's got VIZIO data? So can you talk about your competitive position going forward in CTV, please?”

I’m really excited about all of the talk of new currencies for TV as it merges with CTV and the digital ad ecosystem. It's great that we’re now seeing companies like iSpotTV, VIZIO and Samsung bring massive directly measured panels to a market that previously only had Nielsen’s highly curated but relatively small panel.

This month, we saw the VIZIO Holding Corp. (NYSE:VZIO) up an impressive 52%. But that isn't much consolation to those who have suffered through the declines of the last year. Specifically, the stock price slipped by 51% in that time. So the bounce should be viewed in that context. Arguably, the fall was overdone.

If you don't mind filling your room with boxes, the M-Elevate does offer a compelling alternative to the similarly priced Sonos Arc, and it sounds better with movies, too.

Thanks to our report sponsors Amagi, LG Ads Solutions, Magnite, Pluto TV and VIZIO, we are able to offer this report to you for free.

Now, platforms like Roku, Amazon Fire TV and Vizio, are focusing on bulking up their content offerings as well as updating their interfaces to keep customers coming back. In the second quarter, Vizio SmartCast accounts jumped 43% year over year to hit 14 million, and streaming hours climbed 22% to reach 3.5 billion.

Overall, CTV is expected to see nearly $6 billion in 2022 upfront dollars, up from $4.5 billion in 2021, eMarketer predicts.

​​Similarly, Vizio has unveiled an updated experience for its free streaming video service WatchFree+ including a new programming guide. It is putting the emphasize on data to improve its customer experience.

Driving the news: Comcast has approached Irvine, Calif.-based Vizio as the company eyes acquiring a TV maker, Protocol reports. It's also looked at TP Vision. State of play: Comcast is in the smart TV business already, through its Sky subsidiary and a partnership with Hisense. But it apparently wants more.

Media consolidation in the streaming and the connected TV space seems to be coming -- even if you don’t believe one eye-opening report that Comcast Corp. may be eyeing a deal to acquire Vizio, the TV set manufacturer and growing streaming/connected TV (CTV) platform, according to Protocol.

Specific deal options didn’t come up on the call. Earlier this week, a news report suggested that Comcast has talked to TV set makers, including Vizio, about a potential acquisition. Comcast has been pushing into the smart TV set space under the brand XClass as it looks for new ways to reach consumers in their living rooms.

Reports surfaced Wednesday that Comcast has had talks with smart TV companies Vizio and TP Vision about possible acquisitions. While the seriousness of those talks is debatable, Protocol said discussions with Vizio were held in 2021 and in early 2022, but that it was "unclear how far the discussions with each company progressed, or whether they are still ongoing." Of more imminent importance will be whether the tone for the rest of the year concerning broadband growth will be better or worse.

Reportedly, Comcast is in talks to acquire a few different companies right now, but the big name that has appeared in these reports is – VIZIO. Comcast wants to acquire VIZIO so that it can strengthen its smart TV platform. Comcast is also kicking the tires on digital entertainment company TP Vision.

Vizio’s SmartCast smart TV platform has evolved into one of the best interfaces for streaming media consumption. It doesn’t have a full-fledged voice assistant like Alexa or Google Assistant, but it does offer a solid selection of popular streaming apps. It also supports both Apple AirPlay and Google Cast, as well as Bluetooth for listening to audio via headphones without disturbing anyone else. Overall, it’s simple and easy to use.

Vizio stock (NYSE:VZIO) has jumped 3.2% off a report that Comcast (CMCSA) has been eyeing an acquisition of the consumer electronics maker as it considers getting further into building its own smart televisions.

By acquiring Vizio, Comcast can stay ahead of the digital curve by having its own manufacturer of smart TVs, which has become the primary device for streaming in many households in recent years. Considering that Comcast's own recent report on the rise of free streaming channels, it comes as no surprise that the cable titan is doubling down on streaming.

Cable giant Comcast has been weighing the acquisition of a TV-maker to bolster its nascent smart TV platform efforts, Protocol has learned from industry insiders. One of the companies approached by Comcast has been California-based Vizio, according to three sources with knowledge of these conversations.