Core Facts
A consortium of European television industry leaders announced today the launch of “Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV” or “HbbTV”, a major new pan-European initiative aimed at harmonising the broadcast and broadband delivery of news, information and entertainment to the end consumer through TVs and set-top boxes with an optional web connection.

Who is involved?

•The cross industry consortium includes: broadcasters Canal+, France Televisions, and TF1, German research institute Institut für Rundfunktechnik, satellite operator SES ASTRA, as well as the software and media solutions providers ANT and OpenTV
•A full list of companies, including consumer electronics (CE) manufacturers, can be found at www.hbbtv.org
Why was the consortium formed?

•The HbbTV specification was developed by industry leaders to effectively manage the rapidly increasing amount of available content targeted at today’s end consumer. It will provide the consumer with an entertainment experience with the combined richness of broadcast and broadband
•Consumers will be able to access new services from entertainment providers such as:  catch up TV, video on demand (VOD), interactive advertising, personalistaion, voting, games and social networking. Aswell as digital text and EPGs
•HbbTV products and services will be developed for all broadcasting technologies including satellite, cable and terrestrial networks

Delivery

•HbbTV is based on elements of existing standards and web technologies including OIPF (Open IPTV Forum), CEA, DVB and W3C
•Delivered with one remote control on one screen
Visitors to the IFA show in Berlin will be able to see demonstrations at the ARD stand (Hall 2.2/101). At IBC 2009 in Amsterdam, further examples of HbbTV-based solutions will be showcased at the EBU (European Broadcasting Union) village (stand 10.D21).

Quotes
“HbbTV will build on the success of the existing SD teletext service which is used by more than 14 million consumers each day in Germany by providing a high quality video text service more suited to HD receivers. It will deliver an open platform for broadcasters, manufacturers and service providers to deliver value added on-demand services to consumers of digital content,” said Dr. Klaus Illgner-Fehns, Managing Director, Institut für Rundfunktechnik, “HbbTV not only allows service providers to enrich their offering, but results in considerable benefits to the end consumer who will no longer be challenged by usability issues across multiple platforms. By making the most of today’s hybrid receivers, HbbTV merges broadcasting and broadband services seamlessly to deliver value added content such as web and on demand in addition to traditional linear broadcast TV.”

External support for HbbTV is also evident in the French market from the HD-Forum “The HD-Forum, an association driving the development and promotion of Digital HDTV, together with the French government’s representatives, DGCIS and CSA, are actively working on the HbbTV standard solution in its effort to make DTT interactive in France,” said Frédéric Tapissier, President, Technical Committee of the France HD Forum. “A key advantage for HbbTV is the ability to mix broadcast and online services while retaining the broadcasters’ control. We plan to quickly agree an IPR regime that benefits the entire value chain so that we deploy an interactive version of TNT, the French DTT platform, in 2010”