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According to Doug Lynch at xda-developers.com:
Android TV owners recently received an update across multiple platforms that have started to display sponsored content with a "Promotional Channels' title in the launcher of the Android TV software. We're currently seeing reports that it has shown up in Sony smart TVs, the Mi Box 3 from Xiaomi, NVIDIA Shield TV, and others. This has been an incredibly off-putting change for a lot of Android TV users. What makes matters worse is people were unable to disable the ads at first, but Reddit user Felisens seems to have figured out how to disable them.
[...] Update: Google's response
A Google spokesperson gave us the following statement:
Android TV is committed to optimizing and personalizing the entertainment experience at home. As we explore new opportunities to engage the user community, we're running a pilot program to surface sponsored content on the Android TV home screen.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by Snospar on Friday April 05 2019, @06:24PM
I've no problem with Ads on TV as long as that TV service is free to me, the viewer, and is somehow being paid for by the advertising. What I strongly object to is being forced to watch adverts on a service that I have paid for. Amazon Prime has started to stick adverts for other programs at the start of the content that I want to watch and I can't see any way to skip these or turn them off completely. I find that behaviour abhorrent as I'm trying to use a service I've paid for and one that isn't being subsidised by the advertising industry.
As usual the only people who get to access content without any of these forced adverts are the pirates and we wonder why their numbers continue to swell (according to the media industry).
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