Accessibility

Advancing the HbbTV specifications for a changing market

This article is part of a series based on presentations from the HbbTV Symposium and Awards 2025, bringing together insights from across the industry on the future of broadcast services and connected television. Covering topics from broadband-only delivery and addressable advertising to interoperability and evolving standards, the series captures key discussions and expert perspectives shaping the next phase of HbbTV and the wider TV ecosystem.

At the HbbTV Symposium 2025, Jon Piesing, Vice-Chair of the HbbTV Association and Chair of the HbbTV Specification Group, provided a detailed update on the evolution of the HbbTV specifications and the work underway to ensure they remain aligned with real-world deployment and future industry needs.

His presentation offered insight not only into upcoming features, but also into how the specification itself is developed and maintained. The HbbTV process is built around several coordinated groups, including requirements, specification, testing and interoperability. Together, these ensure that new features are defined, implemented and validated in a way that supports both developers and device manufacturers.

A central theme of the session was the importance of aligning the specification with market reality. Rather than introducing entirely new concepts, recent work has focused on formalising capabilities that are already widely deployed, making them more consistent, testable and reliable across devices.

This is particularly evident in the upcoming HbbTV 2.0.5 specification. Two of the most significant additions are WebAssembly and digital rights management (DRM). Both technologies are already present in many television environments, but standardising their use within HbbTV provides greater confidence for developers and content providers.

The introduction of a formal DRM specification is especially important. Historically, uncertainty around DRM integration led to fragmentation and inconsistent implementations. The new specification addresses this by defining how HbbTV applications can work with DRM systems such as PlayReady and Widevine, supported by reference applications and testing across a wide range of devices.

Alongside these additions, HbbTV 2.0.5 includes a number of refinements designed to modernise the platform. Improvements to video codec handling make it easier to support newer formats such as AV1 and VVC, while optional support for technologies like HTTP/3 reflects the ongoing evolution of streaming delivery. At the same time, legacy features that are no longer widely used are being deprecated or made optional, helping to simplify implementation and reduce complexity.

This process of refinement reflects a broader philosophy. As Piesing noted, the current focus is on fine-tuning and consolidating the platform, ensuring that it keeps pace with how televisions and services are actually being used today.

Looking further ahead, work is already underway on the next iteration of the specification. HbbTV 2.0.6 is currently in the requirements phase, with input being gathered from across the membership. Areas under consideration include improved deep linking into broadcaster applications, enhancements to the usability of the red button experience and better support for accessibility features such as content filtering and discovery.

One particularly interesting area of exploration is the ability to run multiple HbbTV applications simultaneously, potentially from different providers. This reflects the increasing complexity of service delivery and the need to support more flexible and dynamic user experiences.

Testing and interoperability remain a critical part of this work. The HbbTV test suite continues to expand, now comprising more than 3,400 tests, with ongoing improvements to coverage and quality. Recent updates include the addition of DRM-related tests and enhancements to addressable advertising and operator application scenarios.

Supporting tools are also evolving. Reference applications, validation tools and interoperability initiatives help ensure that specifications translate into consistent behaviour across devices. This is essential in a fragmented connected TV environment, where differences in implementation can quickly impact service quality.

Overall, the update highlighted a mature and evolving standard that is adapting to industry needs while maintaining stability for existing deployments. By focusing on real-world usage, simplifying where possible and extending capabilities where necessary, the HbbTV specifications continue to provide a robust foundation for interactive television services.

As the market moves further towards IP delivery and increasingly sophisticated user experiences, this ongoing work ensures that HbbTV remains both relevant and reliable for the next generation of connected TV services.

Watch the presentation and explore further

You can watch the full presentation from the HbbTV Symposium 2025 here: Watch the Video

The presentation slides are also available to download: Download the presentation

Next in the series

Explore the latest global TV and video market trends, as Dataxis analyst Ophélie Boucaud breaks down the rise of connected TV, shifting revenues and increasing fragmentation shaping the future of viewing and monetisation.