Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV (HbbTV)

A standardised approach to harmonising the delivery of broadcast and broadband TV services

HbbTV (Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV) is an open, pan-European standard that harmonises the delivery of TV services to set-top boxes and connected TVs over both broadcast and broadband.

Based on Web technologies and existing broadcasting standards from DVB, HbbTV defines a platform for enhanced and interactive TV services that makes those services available on receivers from a wide range of manufacturers; providing economies of scale for service and content providers, device manufacturers, and end users alike. By re-using existing technologies from the Web and broadcast worlds, HbbTV makes it easy for service developers and device manufacturers to build HbbTV-compatible products, applications and services.

Launched in September 2009, HbbTV was developed by industry leaders from across Europe, with version 1.1.1 of the specification published by ETSI as TS 102 796 in July 2010 and version 1.5 published by HbbTV in April 2012. ANT is a founding member of the HbbTV consortium and is a member of the HbbTV Steering Group.

Today, all of the major German broadcasters deliver HbbTV services. In France the government regulatory body for TV (CSA) has selected HbbTV for digital terrestrial TV services, with major French broadcasters now rolling out HbbTV services. In Spain, HbbTV services are now in regular operation following a recommendation by The Association of Interactive Television (AEDETI). The HbbTV standard has also received support from a number of other organisations worldwide, including:
• Czech public broadcaster Ceska Televize (CT)
• The Finnish HD Forum
• Polish public broadcaster TVP
• Private and public broadcasters in The Netherlands (SBS & NPO),
• The Swiss public broadcast association SRG SSR
• Austria’s public broadcaster ORF
• Nordig, the common standardization regime for Scandinavia which represents Denmark, Finland, Iceland, Norway, Sweden and Ireland.
• ATSC, who are considering alignment with HbbTV as part of the ATSC 2.0 specification

ANT is at the forefront of the HbbTV standard, offering a turnkey solution for both versions 1.1 and 1.5 of the HbbTV specification for all TV devices. The ANT Galio HbbTV Platform has been deployed in high volumes with a range of device manufacturers, including the first shipping HbbTV receivers with Humax in December 2009. Providing a robust, flexible and proven platform, the ANT Galio HbbTV Platform enables both service providers and device manufacturers to develop and deploy HbbTV related applications for hybrid broadcast TV services.

Full details of ANT Galio HbbTV Platform can be found here.