Users in the UK, Germany, and Spain were presented with these ads when turning on the TV, switching between inputs, navigating to the home screen, and switching channels.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Tom’s Hardware found that the affected models were mostly, but not exclusively, lower-end units running Hisense’s VIDAA operating system.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Recently rebranded as Home OS, the software is also used by brands such as Toshiba, Akai, Loewe, and Schneider.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Several users who contacted Hisense support channels in their respective countries reported that the ads were deactivated shortly thereafter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The company told Spanish publications that the ads were part of spot tests to evaluate certain advertising formats linked to free content on the platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This was a temporary and finalised market test,” Hisense said. “The aforementioned advertising format has now been removed from Spain.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hisense is one of South Africa’s top-selling TV manufacturers and is an immensely popular option for budget and mid-range buyers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
We asked Hisense South Africa whether it was showing these ads on its sets in South Africa or had any plans to do so in the future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hisense SA deputy general manager, Luna Nortje, told MyBroadband that the company was aware of reports about the ads.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
She clarified that the local user experience of ads differed significantly from what has been described in some overseas markets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“In South Africa, there are no forced or full-screen advertisements when turning on the TV, switching inputs, changing channels, or during content playback,” Nortje said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Promotional content or banners to aid discoverability are limited to the home screen and remain unobtrusive, ensuring that the user’s viewing experience is not interrupted at any point.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Designed not to intrude \u2014 and helping fund free content<\/h2>\n\n\n\n![\"\"](\"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/04\/Hisense-VIDAA-OS-1200x675.avif\")
Hisense’s VIDAA OS home screen<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\nNortje said the promotional banners took up less than a third of the screen and were mainly static images or short videos to help users discover content and services available on the platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“They have been carefully and purposefully designed for the home screen specifically, are non-intrusive, and we can confirm that they do not interrupt viewing or device functionality in any way,” Nortje said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“They do not require user interaction, they do not interrupt users during viewing, switching inputs, or
while accessing other features.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hisense’s ad implementation approach is similar to those in the Android TV and Google Smart TV operating systems. However, Hisense offers one thing that Google does not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nortje said the ads supported a broader global shift in Smart TV ecosystems, where platforms were increasingly designed for enhanced content discovery and access to free or subsidised content. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This careful approach and placement allow Hisense to continue expanding its free content offering, which now includes a growing selection of both local and international channels available at no cost,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In South Africa specifically, VIDAA-powered TVs offer free access to more than 20 local channels and 30 international channels from the likes of Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, FIFA, Bloomberg, and France 24.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All TV functions can be enjoyed without viewing ads, ensuring that the overall experience of the Smart TV is seamless and user-controlled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hisense’s TVs are used by over 600,000 households in South Africa per month, while a total of one million devices use the VIDAA OS. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nortje also highlighted that promotional placements have been part of the VIDAA Smart TV experience in South Africa since 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Hisense SA remains committed to delivering a high-quality, uninterrupted viewing experience on its Smart TVs, while continuing to expand access to local and international content,” she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
South African Hisense users are enjoying a growing bouquet of free channels, in part thanks to the use of non-intrusive banner ads. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341042,"featured_media":643459,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,29],"tags":[15243,41880,63671,96760,98090,52809,92583,104818,104469],"class_list":["post-643420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-broadcasting","category-gadgets","tag-ads","tag-advertisements","tag-free-channels","tag-hisense-south-africa","tag-hisense-tvs","tag-smart-tvs","tag-tv-ads","tag-tv-operating-system","tag-vidaa-os"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643420"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341042"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643420"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":643693,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643420\/revisions\/643693"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
Nortje said the promotional banners took up less than a third of the screen and were mainly static images or short videos to help users discover content and services available on the platform.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“They have been carefully and purposefully designed for the home screen specifically, are non-intrusive, and we can confirm that they do not interrupt viewing or device functionality in any way,” Nortje said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“They do not require user interaction, they do not interrupt users during viewing, switching inputs, or
while accessing other features.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hisense’s ad implementation approach is similar to those in the Android TV and Google Smart TV operating systems. However, Hisense offers one thing that Google does not.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nortje said the ads supported a broader global shift in Smart TV ecosystems, where platforms were increasingly designed for enhanced content discovery and access to free or subsidised content. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
“This careful approach and placement allow Hisense to continue expanding its free content offering, which now includes a growing selection of both local and international channels available at no cost,” she said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
In South Africa specifically, VIDAA-powered TVs offer free access to more than 20 local channels and 30 international channels from the likes of Real Madrid, FC Barcelona, FIFA, Bloomberg, and France 24.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
All TV functions can be enjoyed without viewing ads, ensuring that the overall experience of the Smart TV is seamless and user-controlled.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Hisense’s TVs are used by over 600,000 households in South Africa per month, while a total of one million devices use the VIDAA OS. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
Nortje also highlighted that promotional placements have been part of the VIDAA Smart TV experience in South Africa since 2020.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
“Hisense SA remains committed to delivering a high-quality, uninterrupted viewing experience on its Smart TVs, while continuing to expand access to local and international content,” she said.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
South African Hisense users are enjoying a growing bouquet of free channels, in part thanks to the use of non-intrusive banner ads. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":341042,"featured_media":643459,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[24,29],"tags":[15243,41880,63671,96760,98090,52809,92583,104818,104469],"class_list":["post-643420","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-broadcasting","category-gadgets","tag-ads","tag-advertisements","tag-free-channels","tag-hisense-south-africa","tag-hisense-tvs","tag-smart-tvs","tag-tv-ads","tag-tv-operating-system","tag-vidaa-os"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643420"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/341042"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=643420"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643420\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":643693,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/643420\/revisions\/643693"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/643459"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=643420"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=643420"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mybroadband.co.za\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=643420"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}