HbbTV makes headway in Spain and Poland

Spain’s public broadcaster RTVE is adding HbbTV interactivity to two of its channels, while Poland’s TVP has completed a trial of the interactive TV standard.

RTVE has launched HbbTV services alongside its 24h and TVE International channels. Users with connected TV sets that receive the channels via satellite will be able to access the RTVE.es news and information portal, which offers around 70,000 videos.

In Poland, TVP has successfully completed trials of the interactive TV standard in partnership with TV technology companies Alticast and Icareus.

The trials were conducted in Warsaw on the country’s DTT network using Alticast middleware and Icareus’s HbbTV applications, including the CS100 playout carousel.

“Our middleware solution supports HbbTV because we believe it will continue to grow in importance across Europe as the industry looks for a standard that can truly unite traditional broadcast TV with the new wave of services delivered over broadband,” said Thomas Jung, chief marketing officer, Alticast. “It’s exciting to be working with such a trusted partner as Icareus to trial out HbbTV services in Poland and we’re really enthusiastic about the positive results. Connected TV’s march continues as consumers crave more exciting experiences and we fully expect HbbTV to play a huge part in this trend in Europe and beyond.”