Edward Lerner, CEO of Hearo, founded the company in 2017 so that people who were in different locations could watch TV shows together. The Hearo app has about 2.8 million users.
But these days, Lerner is interested in helping the television industry ditch the cable remote and use the Hearo app to make the phone or computer look and work a lot like a smart TV. The Hearo app is a custom browser, where viewers can watch streaming shows from the likes of Netflix and Disney+. And one of the main benefits is that advertisers can interact with viewers in a familiar, web-based way.
The television industry has long touted the benefits of lean-back experiences, where viewers can sprawl on their couches. But it’s also long downplayed the fact that the TV remote is antiquated (and annoying) technology.
Lerner said, “Across the world, most people don’t have TVs.” He noted that in many countries people aren’t even rich enough to have a wall in their home big enough for a big-screen TV. Conversely, a lot more people in the world have smartphones and other connected devices such as laptops and tablets.
“It’s also an age thing,” said Lerner. “People who grew up with the iPhone are used to doing everything on their phone.”
Lerner wants to use Hearo to improve the TV viewing and advertising experience, while not requiring viewers to buy any new hardware.
Asked if Hearo had relationships with any content providers, Lerner said “no.” People simply use the Hearo app to sign into their various streaming subscription accounts on their devices. “It’s a TV interface wrapped around a browser,” he said. “So far, no one is saying ‘please don’t let your users watch our service.’”
What is the current alternative to Hearo?
Lerner said that advertisers on passive TV pay minuscule amounts for clicks per thousand (CPM), while ads on internet platforms can garner up to $5 for a single click.
The way things stand now, advertisers who want to get users to move to their phones to make a purchase, download something or sign up for something, must contend with all these steps:
- Insert a sizable, long-lasting QR code into their TV ad
- Viewers need to put down their remote
- Grab their phone
- Access their camera app
- Point their camera at the QR code
- Wait for it to be resolved into a URL
- Tap on the link
- Wait again for the landing page to load
- All while being distracted by the show
“We think remote controls will disappear in the next 5-10 years,” said Lerner. “The first and easiest step is to create or acquire a cross-platform, software only Smart TV, like Hearo. Once TV is just another app, all the internet advertising platforms are ready to rumble.”