The Future Of TV & Retail Media | Big Brains With VIZIO's Adam Bergman

As part of the Big Brains series, Media Cartographer Evan Shapiro sat down with Adam Bergman, Group VP of Advertising and Data Sales at VIZIO, to talk about the company’s evolution from a hardware manufacturer to a software-first media platform. In this wide-ranging conversation, Bergman shares insights on data strategy, advertising innovation, and what VIZIO’s recent acquisition by Walmart means for the future of television and retail media.

Evan Shapiro: Why do you sell both advertising and data together?

Adam Bergman: We sell both because they’re the two core pieces of the modern television market. For nearly a decade, we’ve been collecting and studying viewership behavior on smart TVs through our Inscape data business. We say our customers “vote” every day with their behavior—what they watch reveals their psychographic profile.

As streaming and traditional TV merged, our dataset—originally used mainly for measurement—became essential for ad targeting, recommendation engines, and broader strategy. As owners of WatchFree+, our free cable service, and curators of that data, it makes sense to use these insights across investment planning and performance measurement.

ES: You’ve been at VIZIO for six years. When you joined, it was a very different company.

AB: Very different. Back then, we were generating under a million dollars in ad revenue. Now we’re approaching $1 billion. VIZIO was a hardware-first company. Today, we’re software-forward. WatchFree+ is a perfect example of that. It’s our free cable offering that comes with every VIZIO TV. And we don’t call it FAST—we call it what it is: free cable. Your favorite shows, movies, and channels. I think we would’ve seen faster adoption if we had called it that from day one.

ES: You’ve helped redefine what an OEM and connected TV platform can be—nimble and forward-thinking. And now you’ve been acquired by Walmart.

AB: Yes—by one of the largest companies in the world, and certainly one of the biggest TV retailers. Over the past six years, we transformed VIZIO financially and culturally. Walmart, in turn, has been evolving too, especially with Walmart Connect growing into a serious ad platform.

The timing is right. Walmart’s bringing commerce, advertising, and data together in one ecosystem. We bring experience in building ad businesses, managing viewership data, and evolving company culture. It’s a strong fit.

ES: Walmart’s strategy feels very full-funnel. You’re now adding the television screen to that mix. Is this the moment when the funnel truly collapses?

AB: It’s less about collapsing the funnel and more about connecting it intelligently. The person buying a 30-second TV spot isn’t the same one buying a sponsored search ad. But those two signals can and should work together. That’s where we come in.

We like to think about a Walmart customer building their basket throughout the week—groceries, electronics, home goods. If that person sees a relevant brand message on the biggest screen in their house and then later shops on their phone, that’s a powerful moment. We’re building toward frictionless commerce by closing the loop between inspiration and action.

ES: Even if retail media and TV have different buyers, connecting the data could make both sides more efficient.

AB: Exactly. That’s the unlock. Brands are now rethinking television because the VIZIO home screen has become a new kind of entry point. And with our OS soon launching on Walmart’s private-label TVs, we’re dramatically increasing our scale.

We’re positioning ourselves to be the leading TV operating system—whether it’s a VIZIO-branded device or a Walmart brand like Onn. That gives us huge reach and relevance in this space.

ES: You’ve led a close-knit team through a big transition. What has that been like?

AB: It’s been challenging. As a leadership group, we had to manage confidentiality during the acquisition, which was tough. But I kept reminding the team: “Defend what you’ve built.” Our ad salespeople, our engineers, our data scientists—they created something transformative. We’ve only written the prologue. Now we get to write the next chapter inside a larger ecosystem.

One thing I really respect about Walmart is their hunger to learn. We’ve always grown by asking questions and being open to what we don’t know. Walmart shares that curiosity. That cultural alignment has been key.

ES: So while Walmart is inevitably influencing VIZIO, it sounds like VIZIO is also shaping Walmart.

AB: Absolutely. We didn’t show up pretending to be experts in retail media. We came to bring our deep knowledge of television and to learn everything we could about commerce. Walmart’s CEO, John Furner, has been crystal clear: growth and innovation are core to their future.

We’ve brought fresh energy and thinking, and in return, we’ve found a culture that shares our values—curiosity, ambition, and customer obsession.

ES: One of the most successful integrations in American business history?

AB: [Laughs] It’s still early—but we’re off to a great start.