What you will find in the article:
- Main themes include audience measurement and addressable advertising.
- Event scheduled for 18-19 November 2026 in Barcelona.
- Focus on HbbTV's expansion into Middle East and Asia.
- Sessions feature industry leaders discussing technical innovations.
- Unconference format on the second day encourages participant-led discussions.
The 14th edition of the annual connected TV industry conference will also examine the expansion of HbbTV into markets including the Middle East, North Africa and Asia, alongside developments in AI-powered interfaces, personalisation and content discovery.
Organised by the HbbTV Association and co-hosted by Catalan public broadcaster 3Cat, the event will take place at the Catalonia Barcelona Plaza Hotel.
HbbTV Association Chair Vincent Grivet and Vice-Chair Jon Piesing will open the conference on 18 November with updates on the development of the standard and its technical specifications.
Sessions on advertising and measurement will feature representatives from Dataxis, ADKEMIX, SES and Virtual Minds, while a series of shorter presentations will examine technical and service innovations from organisations including Fraunhofer FOKUS, ARD and ZDF.
The afternoon programme will explore HbbTV’s role as television distribution increasingly moves towards IP. Richard Lindsay-Davies of the UK’s Digital TV Group will discuss the transition from broadcast to broadband, while Xavi Redon of Cellnex Telecom will examine the evolution of Spain’s LOVEStv platform.
Representatives from 3Cat and the European Broadcasting Union will consider the relationship between HbbTV and DVB-I, while a separate session on the future of HbbTV applications will include Orf Warr of Everyone TV, Rafael Bermúdez of 3Cat and Mika Kanerva of Sofia Digital.
Two industry roundtables will examine content discovery and emerging television interfaces, with contributions from broadcasters, platform operators and technology providers including Mediaset Italia, TP Vision, Eutelsat and ZDF.
The first day will conclude with the HbbTV Awards 2026, featuring five categories, including a new award recognising excellence in audience measurement and analytics.
The second day, 19 November, will adopt an unconference format, allowing delegates to propose and lead discussions on connected TV’s technical and commercial challenges. Participants will determine the agenda at the start of the day, followed by four blocks of parallel sessions.
The format is intended to encourage more direct exchanges between broadcasters, platform operators, technology suppliers and other industry participants.
The full programme and speaker line-up are available through the HbbTV Association.
Source: broadbandtvnews.com