Nvidia starts introducing advertising streaming services on Shield TV home screen

The Nvidia Shield TV media player will receive advertising on the home screen in an upcoming Android TV update. That takes the form of “featured series and movies,” which are available through streaming services to which the user may not be subscribed.

These recommendations will appear on the home screen after the update and occupy the first one or two rows, the most prominent place on that screen. The movies and series have been “chosen by Google Plays media experts or sponsored by our media partners,” Google explained when the feature was first introduced. From the recommendation, you can quickly click through to a trailer and then play the media or, if necessary, take out a subscription to the hosting service.

9to5Google came with the news and says it has the information from Nvidia itself. The new home screen is now being introduced in the US, Canada, UK, France, Germany and Australia. Italy and Spain will also receive the update, but without the advertising. This ‘roll-out’ must be completed by June 24. Nvidia and 9to5Google do not provide information about other countries at this time. Whether the advertising will come to all generations of Shield TV is not yet certain. Nvidia keeps its devices all up-to-date in terms of software, so this news is expected to affect all Shield TVs.

There is no mention of the update on Reddit. Moreover, in the responses there, techniques are shared to thwart this change, temporarily or otherwise. The Nvidia Shield TV has been available since 2015 and received new hardware generations in 2017 and 2019. Recommended retail prices for the current two models are 160 and 219 euros.