“We may use automatic content recognition (ACR) and other technologies to capture this information. Your Smart TV transfers video snippets or TV tuner information in order to determine the programs watched.”
I don’t have any firsthand knowledge of the methodology in use here, but this seems like the most likely, if not the only feasible, source.
(Related: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=21427405, https://twitter.com/simpleoptout/status/1191029269691957249)