The specification was approved at the latest meeting of the HbbTV Steering Group and marks a significant step forward in enabling widespread secure delivery of premium content via HbbTV-based services. The new specification formalises the predictable and reliable use of DRM in HbbTV services, especially for applications approaching the complexity and content protection demands of Video-on-Demand (VOD) platforms.

While HbbTV has been used with DRM for many years, the HbbTV/DRM integration has previously been on an ad-hoc basis, led separately by a number of countries or markets with other countries or markets relying on the efforts of the leaders. There was no harmonised approach to benefit the entire ecosystem. With the growing importance of premium content and content owners’ requirements for their content to be secured, the need for a fully specified, interoperable DRM integration at the core of the HbbTV standard has become increasingly important.

“Over the past few years, we have observed that advanced HbbTV services often ran into technical challenges due to incomplete integration between HbbTV and DRM, even though most connected TVs already supported DRM at the device level,” said Vincent Grivet, Chair of the HbbTV Association. “This new specification provides predictability and reliability for the proper functioning of HbbTV applications in association with DRM, enabling our ecosystem to meet growing usage and more sophisticated HbbTV applications delivering advanced TV services.”

The newly approved specification formalises the integration of widely used DRM systems, specifically Microsoft PlayReady and Google Widevine, into the HbbTV framework. It builds on the experience gathered with HbbTV’s DASH-DRM Reference Application, which has already been adopted by many broadcasters and platform operators as a de facto standard for initial DRM implementation.

To support manufacturers and application developers, HbbTV is collaborating with leading hybrid TV platforms including tivù in Italy and Everyone TV in the UK as well as Google. These partnerships aim to integrate previous national-level or private DRM unit tests into the HbbTV Conformance Test Suite, ensuring seamless and consistent implementation across devices and markets.

The specification is available on the HbbTV website and is expected to be adopted by broadcasters, platform operators and hardware manufacturers in upcoming product cycles.

Click here for the PDF version of the press release.

The annual key summit of the connected TV industry will take place on 12-13 November in Istanbul, co-hosted by TVekstra, a leading Turkish provider of addressable TV advertising solutions. The venue for this year’s Symposium is Swissôtel The Bosphorus Istanbul, a five-star hotel offering first-class conference and accommodation facilities with panoramic views over the iconic Bosphorus.

The HbbTV Symposium 2025 will bring together market players from Europe and the MENA region including broadcasters, platform operators, streaming providers, advertisers, standards organisations, and technology companies from the HbbTV community and the wider connected TV ecosystem. It offers an excellent platform for networking, exchanging experiences, showcasing, presenting and discussing the latest developments and services.

Call for Speakers now open

The HbbTV Association invites industry executives and experts to submit proposals for presentations or panel discussions that align with the conference’s strategic themes for 2025.

Focus topics of the 2025 conference agenda

• Global expansion of HbbTV reach, exploring new markets
• Monetisation strategies, including addressable TV advertising
• The evolution of HbbTV 2.0.5, including WebAssembly, new video codecs, and HTTP3
• HbbTV-based audience measurement for real-time viewership data and improvement of TV ratings
• Developments and deployments of DVB-I in combination with HbbTV, enabling next-gen TV services
• Intelligent interfaces leveraging AI, such as voice/sound recognition
• The role of HbbTV in an IP-only and all-streaming future
• Interoperability with streaming applications and cross-platform integration
• Ensuring conformance and seamless deployment of standards and specifications

Speakers are encouraged to share real-world case studies, innovative service implementations, research findings, or forward-looking insights relevant to these themes. Submissions of other, additional topics will also be considered.

The presentations shall not exceed 10 minutes at maximum. The submissions will be evaluated by the HbbTV Marketing and Education Working Group (MEWG) which is in charge of organising the Symposium. Speakers will receive complimentary admission to the event.

How to apply

Industry executives and experts who would like to speak at the HbbTV Symposium 2025 conference in Istanbul are welcome to submit an outline of their proposed contribution through this online form. Please provide the title, an abstract (max. 200 words), a speaker’s biography (max. 150 words) and a speaker’s photo by 31 August 2025.

Details on the sponsor packages for the HbbTV Symposium and Awards 2025 and the preceding preview and demo events can be found in the sponsorship brochure. Early bird offers with reduced rates are available until 10 July 2025.

Details on the 2025 Symposium, the venue and conference are available at https://www.hbbtv.org/news-events/13th-hbbtv-symposium-and-awards-2025-on-12-13-november-in-istanbul-turkey/.

Click here for the PDF version of the press release.

Co-hosted with TVekstra, a leading Turkish service provider specialising in addressable TV advertising solutions, this year’s event will be held at the Swissôtel The Bosphorus Istanbul, a five-star hotel offering first-class conference and accommodation facilities with panoramic views over the iconic Bosphorus. The annual key summit of the connected TV industry brings together HbbTV market players from Europe and the MENA region including broadcasters, platform operators, advertisers, standards organisations and technology companies.

The 2025 Symposium will feature a comprehensive conference programme on the first day with high-level keynotes, panels, and presentations, offering insights into the latest developments and innovations in the HbbTV ecosystem. Topics will include targeted advertising, measurement and analytics, operator applications, integration with DVB-I, new accessibility features, and the latest market deployments.

On the second day, the event will adopt an unconference format. Attendees will actively shape the agenda, proposing topics and leading breakout discussions in a collaborative and informal environment. This format enables open dialogue and creative exchange, providing a unique opportunity to explore real-world challenges and share practical solutions, whether technical or business related.

In addition, the event will host the HbbTV Awards 2025, celebrating best-in-class HbbTV-based applications, services and features that advance innovation and user experience. The awards ceremony will take place during a glamorous evening reception on 12 November.

Sponsorship offers companies unique visibility and brand exposure to key market players and decision-makers in the connected TV, broadcast and streaming industries. Multiple packages are available to suit different levels of engagement, including branded campaigns, exhibition space, and further promotional opportunities in the venue and across digital channels.

“With HbbTV recently reaching the milestone of being available in over 100 million European TV households, the HbbTV Symposium and Awards reflects the growing influence of our standard. We are excited to bring the premier international summit of the connected TV industry to Istanbul, a dynamic hub between Europe and Asia, where key players will share and explore innovations shaping the future of television. We warmly welcome sponsors to join us on this journey,” said Vincent Grivet, Chairman of the HbbTV Association.

Companies interested in sponsoring the HbbTV Symposium and Awards 2025 are encouraged to review the sponsorship brochure to secure their package. Early bird offers with reduced rates are available until 30 June 2025.

Contact details for sponsoring
Mr. Andrea M. Michelozzi, Dime Comunicaciones, Tel: +34 611 048 295, email andrea@dimecomunica.com

Details on the event, the venue and conference are available at https://www.hbbtv.org/news-events/13th-hbbtv-symposium-and-awards-2025-on-12-13-november-in-istanbul-turkey/

Click here for the PDF version of the press release.

The 2025 Symposium is hosted by the HbbTV Association and TVekstra, a leading Turkish service provider specialising in addressable TV advertising solutions. With a strong focus on data-driven targeting and dynamic ad delivery, TVekstra has established itself as a key player in Turkey’s advanced TV advertising ecosystem.

The Symposium targets a wide-ranging audience, including platform operators, broadcasters, advertisers, adtech companies, standards bodies, and technology vendors. This year’s focus will be on monetisation strategies enabled by HbbTV, particularly in the areas of addressable advertising, innovative revenue-generation methods, and business expansion opportunities, driven by standards and specifications such as the HbbTV Operator Application, HbbTV-TA, and DVB-I.

In addition to the usual review of recent developments and ongoing topics in the HbbTV ecosystem, the agenda – reflecting the choice of Istanbul for this year’s edition – will also focus on the confirmed interest for HbbTV in the MENA region, Arab countries, and the broader Asian markets. Thanks to its strategic geographic location at the crossroads of Europe and Asia, Istanbul serves as the ideal bridge connecting companies from Western Europe with local players in these emerging markets.

The HbbTV Symposium and Awards 2025 continues the successful two-day format established in previous years. The first day will offer a traditional conference setting, featuring keynotes, presentations, panel discussions, and roundtables. Leading industry experts and executives will present, showcase, and discuss the latest developments, innovations, and use cases.

On the second day, the event will adopt an unconference format. Attendees will actively shape the agenda, proposing topics and leading breakout discussions in a collaborative and informal environment. This format enables open dialogue and creative exchange, providing a unique opportunity to explore real-world challenges and share practical solutions, whether technical or business related.

A highlight of the event will be the prestigious HbbTV Awards ceremony, taking place in the evening of the first day. Celebrating excellence within the HbbTV community, the awards recognise outstanding innovations, services, and contributions. The ceremony will be held in a stylish and festive setting that encourages networking, collaboration, and a shared celebration of industry achievements.

“We’re thrilled to bring the HbbTV Symposium and Awards 2025 to Istanbul, a city that not only connects continents but also business opportunities. The modern digital technologies of the Western hemisphere are rapidly penetrating the MENA, Arab, and Asian regions and are very quickly becoming the norm as it has been the case in Europe and the USA. This event will open up valuable insights into these dynamic markets and explore how HbbTV can help the players of this region to materialise the connected TV opportunities and better navigate the challenges associated with the new paradigms. It also offers excellent first-hand networking opportunities with key regional stakeholders to discuss partnerships and collaborative growth,” said Vincent Grivet, Chairman of the HbbTV Association.

“We’re proud to co-host the HbbTV Symposium and Awards 2025 in Istanbul – a city that symbolises the fusion of innovation and opportunity. As TVekstra, we see HbbTV as a key driver of television’s digital transformation, enabling more personalised, data-driven viewer experiences. This event is a unique chance to highlight how addressable TV can unlock new revenue for broadcasters and brands, and we’re excited to welcome the industry’s brightest minds to the place where the future of TV is being shaped,” said Merve Eraslanoğlu, CEO of TVekstra.

Further details on the conference programme, sponsorship opportunities, and HbbTV Awards 2025 will be announced soon.

Click here for the PDF version of the press release.

The addition of HbbTV to ETSI’s list of members further cements HbbTV’s long-standing collaboration with ETSI in shaping the future of modern television services which leverage both broadcast and broadband.

This move also marks a significant step in HbbTV’s ongoing commitment to ensuring that the widely adopted ETSI specifications (such as ETSI TS 102 796) continue to be aligned with globally recognised information and communication technologies standards (ICT).

“For the past 15 years, ETSI has been instrumental in publishing specifications about Hybrid broadcast broadband TV (HbbTV) technology. By becoming a formal member of ETSI, we affirm our commitment to ETSI, ensuring that the HbbTV specifications continue to drive innovation and interoperability in the evolving media landscape,” said Vincent Grivet, Chair of the HbbTV Association.

“This is a positive and natural evolution for HbbTV to join ETSI as an ETSI member after many years of fruitful collaboration,” said Antonio Arcidiacono, Chair of the EBU/CENELEC/ETSI Joint Technical Committee Broadcast.

As a full ETSI member, HbbTV will actively participate in the institute’s standardisation processes, contributing to the ongoing development of future-proof digital television solutions. The membership also grants HbbTV a stronger voice in shaping policies and technical frameworks that impact ICT standards.

ETSI is one of only three bodies officially recognised by the EU as a European Standards Organisation (ESO) and an independent and not-for-profit ICT standardisation body. With more than 900 member organisations worldwide, drawn from 62 countries and five continents from all sectors of industry and society, ETSI plays a crucial role in ensuring interoperability and innovation within the ICT ecosystem by providing technical standards that drive industry advancements.

Click here for the PDF version of the press release.

The latest update further strengthens the Test Suite’s position as an essential resource for manufacturers, ensuring compliance of TV sets and set-top boxes with the latest HbbTV specifications. For broadcasters, the Test Suite is a key mechanism to increase consistency between implementations and hence reduce costs for broadcasters and application developers.

The HbbTV Test Suite v2025-1 release includes 3,361 test cases, with 3,120 focused on HbbTV specifications and the rest covering related standards. Among these, 2,653 have been officially approved, offering a reliable way for manufacturers and platforms to check that devices meet HbbTV standards.

The new release incorporates all necessary tests for the latest HbbTV specification, HbbTV 2.0.4 (TS 102 796 v1.7.1). This includes enhanced coverage for accessibility features, DVB-I services, voice control functionalities, and audio watermarking tests related to the HbbTV-ADB+TA2 specification. Additionally, the release contains 241 non-HbbTV test cases, broadening its applicability across related technologies and standards.

“HbbTV’s continuous commitment to refining and expanding the Test Suite is vital to ensuring the reliability, interoperability, and quality of HbbTV-compliant devices and services worldwide,” said Vincent Grivet, Chair of the HbbTV Association. “With this latest release, we further support manufacturers, broadcasters and platform operators in delivering seamless, compelling, and state-of-the-art TV experiences for consumers.”

The Test Suite is available through registered HbbTV test centres and, as a convenience, to HbbTV members for use in their own facilities.

More information on the v2025-1 Test Suite and the test centres can be found here.

Click here for the PDF version of the press release.

The number of HbbTV households will continue to rise, reaching 108 million by the end of 2025, up from 97 million in 2024, according to Dataxis’ market forecast. Looking further ahead, the company predicts the total to surpass 120 million in 2026, demonstrating the widespread adoption and growing importance of HbbTV in the evolving television landscape. These figures exclude Russia and Turkey.

“Reaching 100 million homes with HbbTV-compliant TV sets in Europe is a testament to the strength and relevance of the open HbbTV standard. This achievement underscores the entire industry’s commitment to delivering innovative TV services to consumers in a harmonised manner. The mature, stable and proven standard offers broadcasters, advertisers and technology providers new opportunities in the connected TV ecosystem. We look forward to seeing further growth and adoption,” said Vincent Grivet, Chair of the HbbTV Association.

The rapid adoption of HbbTV is reflected in past and projected figures. In 2020, there were 60 million HbbTV households in Europe, accounting for 25.9% penetration out of 231 million total households. By 2024, penetration rose to 41.3%, with 97 million HbbTV households out of 236 million total households. This year, penetration is expected to reach 45.8%, and by 2026, the milestone of 50% penetration will be surpassed, with 120 million households anticipated to have HbbTV-compliant TV sets.

The HbbTV standard, which is supported by all major TV manufacturers, has been playing a crucial role in enhancing the TV viewing experience by enabling content discovery, interactive services, hybrid content delivery and improved accessibility since its introduction in 2010. As the market continues to expand, broadcasters, platform operators and content providers are increasingly leveraging HbbTV to offer enhanced viewer engagement, addressable advertising and enriched content experiences.

Click here for the PDF version of the press release.

Targeting platform operators, broadcasters, advertisers and adtechs, standards organisations and technology companies, the event will provide exclusive, first-hand insights into the latest industry developments, discussing new services, experiences and challenges with a focus on specifications, interoperability and regulation.

Top-level executives of the international connected TV industry will discuss business models to grow revenues with HbbTV-based applications and services as well as new developments in the areas of addressable advertising, business models, streaming technologies, DVB-I and the HbbTV Operator Application.

The HbbTV Symposium will again consist of a traditional conference with keynotes, panels and roundtables on the first day, followed by the glamourous HbbTV Awards ceremony in the evening. The second day will feature an unconference at which participants decide about the agenda, topics and discussions, actively shaping and driving the sessions and conclusions.

The conference programme featured keynotes, presentations, panel discussions and roundtables on topics like the integration of streaming and broadcast services, business cases with addressable advertising, deployments of the DVB-I standard, the impact of AI on business models and the latest version of the HbbTV Operator Application specification. One highlight was the showcase of Freely, the streaming service recently launched by Everyone TV, backed by BBC/ITV/Channel 4/Channel 5. The HbbTV-OpApp-based platform provides an example of how collaboration between broadcasters can avoid fragmentation of services.

The 7th HbbTV Awards ceremony in the evening of day one celebrated excellence across six categories, highlighting groundbreaking achievements such as Everyone TV’s Freely service, which won multiple awards for technology innovation, content discovery, marketing impact and newcomer success. Further awards winners include Mediaset España for its AI-based contextual advertising solution and the Addressable TV Initiative (ATVI) for its certification solution ensuring compliance of receivers with the HbbTV-TA specification.

Day two hosted an unconference, allowing participants to propose and engage in discussions directly addressing emerging challenges and opportunities in focused breakout sessions.

“The Symposium confirmed HbbTV’s established role as a core component of Europe’s TV ecosystem. UK broadcasters are shaping next-generation distribution strategies based on HbbTV specifications, while continental players are advancing significantly in addressable advertising with HbbTV-TA. Additionally, the thriving ecosystem of technology providers around HbbTV and the increasing interest from the MENA region highlight the open standard’s growing influence,” said HbbTV Chair Vincent Grivet.

“The Symposium provided the ideal opportunity to share the learnings from the recent development of HbbTV services and applications and allowed Everyone TV to engage with a large number of existing partners and interested stakeholders,” confirmed Jonathan Thompson, CEO of Everyone TV.

With more than 260 participants from Europe, North America, the Middle East and Asia, the HbbTV Symposium and Awards 2024 was one of the most well-attended in the 13-year history of the event. The presentations, event brochure and picture gallery, details on the agenda, speakers, sponsors, media partners and HbbTV Awards winners are available on the Symposium website.

The 13th HbbTV Symposium and Awards will take place in 2025 in Istanbul, co-hosted with TVekstra, a Turkish service provider of addressable advertising solutions.

HbbTV wishes to announce the following calendar for HbbTV Interoperability Plugfests and Testing Events planned in 2025, so that interested parties can “save the date” and begin planning their travel arrangements and budgets:

1.     in cooperation with Digital TV Group (DTG) & Deutsche TV-Plattform (DTVP), the first event will take place from Monday, 24 February, to Friday, 28 February 2025, at the DTG office in London, UK.

2.     in cooperation with Kineton, the second event will take place from Monday, 23 June, to Friday, 27 June 2025, at the Kineton premises in Milan, Italy.

3.     in cooperation with Deutsche TV-Plattform (DTVP) and Digital TV Group (DTG), the third event will take place from Monday, 6 October, to Friday, 10 October 2025, at the Fraunhofer FOKUS headquarter in Berlin, Germany.

Each of the 3 events will follow the same format: 3 days of Plugfest on Monday to Wednesday overlapping on the Wednesday with 3 days of a pre-release HbbTV Testing Event and HbbTV Testing Group meeting from Wednesday to Friday.

The Interoperability Plugfests and Testing Events are important opportunities to gather for application developers, broadcasters and operators, device and component manufacturers and ensure applications, services and devices entering or in the market work well together.

Further information on the individual events, including how to register, will follow.

The winners of the HbbTV Awards 2024:

Best Use of HbbTV for Advertising-Based Solutions
Mediaset España: Contextual Advertising for Linear Live TV (Spain)
Jury quote: “A groundbreaking approach to contextual advertising that leverages AI to deliver highly targeted and engaging ads, significantly improving viewer experience and advertiser return on investment.”

Best Tool or Product for HbbTV Service Development or Delivery
ATVI: ATVI Certification for HbbTV-TA receivers (entire Europe and any other HbbTV markets)
Jury quote: “A valuable initiative that addresses a critical industry need by providing a standardised approach to HbbTV compliance, facilitating faster market adoption and ensuring a consistent user experience.”

Best Technology Innovation in an HbbTV Application
Everyone TV: Freely (UK)
Jury quote: “A game changer for UK broadcasters and viewers with HbbTV at the core.”

Best Use of HbbTV for Content Discovery
Everyone TV and YouView: Freely (UK)
Jury quote: “A welcome cooperative approach to fight the recent fragmentation of services and lack of searchability between them.”

Best Marketing or Promotion of an HbbTV-Based Service
Everyone TV: Freely (UK)
Jury quote: “A great campaign for building awareness around Freely’s launch with impressive reach metrics. A key point is the joint marketing efforts with TV retailers and manufacturers.”

Judges’ Award: HbbTV Newcomer of the Year
Everyone TV: Freely (UK)
Jury quote: “With Freely, Everyone TV have both demonstrated the power and effectiveness of the HbbTV OpApp, and how collaboration between broadcasters can bring compelling ‘all streaming’ services to consumers.”

The winners were selected by an independent jury of international industry experts. A total of 33 submissions from 10 countries were received during the call for entries.

The prizes were awarded to the winners at a glamorous ceremony on 14 November 2024 as part of the 12th HbbTV Symposium and Awards in London, jointly hosted by the HbbTV Association and UK-based platform operator Everyone TV (backed by the BBC, ITV, Channel 4 and Channel 5).

The multi-year agreement follows a competitive tender process for a supplier to establish, provide, and operate the root domain service to enable online discovery of HbbTV applications. It will enable unique identifiers carried in media streams reaching TV sets to be resolved to an online address that is used to access and load an HbbTV application.

HbbTV or Hybrid broadcast broadband TV is an open specification that provides a television application execution environment based on web standards and enables advanced TV services. It is supported by televisions in nearly a hundred million households across Europe.

A key benefit of HbbTV Application Discovery over Broadband is that it enables compatible televisions connected to the internet to access and launch applications, even in the absence of broadcast service information. This includes HbbTV televisions that display services from an external device through an HDMI input.

One of the uses for this approach to discovery is to support targeted advertising, extending the addressable audience to viewers of services, irrespective of how they receive them.

“HbbTV Application Discovery over Broadband further expands the reach of HbbTV applications and services”, said Vincent Grivet, Chairman of the HbbTV Association. “The Service List Registry will support the deployment of this additional method of application discovery.”

The Service List Registry provides a global platform for the discovery of audiovisual media services. Its Chief Executive, Dr William Cooper, said: “Our registry enables media to be connected to applications using highly scalable internet technology, opening up new opportunities for media providers. They can simply register a code that uniquely identifies their media, linking it to an interactive application.”

Applications for new registrations from media and service providers will open at the start of 2025.

Further information will be available at the 12^th annual HbbTV Symposium, which will take place on 14-15 November in London.