The ‘red button revolution’: why and how HbbTV is going places in Europe and beyond

Hands up if you remember the days of the red button revolution. It all happened just over two decades ago, yet it feels like that time went in the blink of an eye. Since the days the BBC introduced their trademarked functionality in the United Kingdom, television has changed. Not only in this country, and not only from the point of view of technology and its impact on new devices. Interactivity was – and still is – the dream, the ultimate objective. Primarily for end-users – hungry for viewing experiences that can take one from the armchair to less passive entertainment – but also for broadcasters, content owners, and distributors too.

HbbTV  

There’s another milestone that sits in between the introduction of the red button for TV devices and today’s digital landscape. It’s the adoption of Hybrid Broadcasting Broadband TV (HbbTV) standards, the designated way to enable consumers to view advanced services on their TV screens, via a single device. There is a range of content broader than ever before, and beyond traditional broadcast TV programming: video-on-demand, catch-up services, Teletext, EPG, and personalised activities such as polls, social networking integration, or even gaming and other multimedia applications.

The industry has come a long way, and today, HbbTV is looked at as the north star for free to air broadcasters and pay-TV operators, eager to meet the ever-changing media consumption trends, and enhanced interactivity. Why so? The adoption of video over IP networks has undoubtedly changed the way the world watches TV.

The surge of non-linear platforms is determining the need for hybrid standards, enabling broadcasters to keep their linear distribution in place, without renouncing the OTT experience on big screens that consumers crave and expect as part of their package today. Increased reach on platforms such as Freeview Play, YouView, and Freesat – for instance – sits at the core of the solution for HbbTV services we deliver here at Simplestream for our broadcast customers.

Targeted Advertising  

Advanced IP-based capabilities make HbbTV your best ally to reach wider audiences and grow revenues by nurturing monetisation paths such as incremental BARB ratings, digital advertising, and sponsorship sales. Targeted advertising is the ace in the deck, as HbbTV allows for the replacement of broadcast ads via SCTE markers that can trigger targeted advertising, delivering relevant ads that can command a much higher CPT (cost per thousand). We can support this type of advertising with Server-Side Ad Insertion (SSAI), which is processed entirely in the cloud - as opposed to in the end users’ device.

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