HbbTV Reveals 2026 Symposium Programme

The HbbTV Association has announced the full programme and speaker roster for the HbbTV Symposium and Awards 2026, unveiling the agenda for the 14th annual gathering dedicated to open standards and advanced interactive TV services.

Taking place on 18–19 November at the Catalonia Barcelona Plaza Hotel, the event is co-hosted with 3Cat, Catalonia’s public media corporation. This year’s themes include audience measurement, addressable advertising, expansion into regions such as MENA and Asia, and new user experiences, notably AI-driven interfaces and personalisation.

Conference day (18 November) blends keynote updates, presentations, Quickfire Updates and roundtables. Vincent Grivet, Chair of the HbbTV Association, and Jon Piesing, Vice-Chair, will open with updates on the state of HbbTV and its specifications. Market and measurement sessions feature contributions from Guillaume Perrin (Dataxis), Damien de Foucault (ADKEMIX), Michele Gosetti (SES) and Ricarda Jebsen (Virtual Minds & d-force).

The Quickfire Updates segment will showcase six concise talks on recent technical and service developments by Moritz Wuttke (Konodrac), Naomi Schoppa (Fraunhofer FOKUS), Klaus Merkel (rbb/ARD), Aylen Alonso Montero (TVekstra), Louay Bassbouss (Fraunhofer FOKUS) and Amelie Jakob (ZDF).

In the afternoon, speakers will explore HbbTV’s role in the future TV landscape: Xavi Redon (Cellnex Telecom) on the evolution of LOVEStv, Richard Lindsay-Davies (DTG) on the UK’s shift from broadcast to IP, Petra Konrad (Eutelsat) and Philipp Rotermund (wedotv) on commercial prospects, and Francesc Mas (3Cat) with Bram Tullemans (EBU) on HbbTV and DVB-I strategies. The session "The Future of HbbTV Applications" features Orf Warr (Everyone TV), Rafael Bermúdez (3Cat) and Mika Kanerva (Sofia Digital).

Two roundtables, moderated by Ranjeet Kaur (DTG) and journalist Jörn Krieger, will examine content discovery and emerging interfaces, drawing panellists from Everyone TV, ZDF, TP Vision, Mediaset Italia, Eutelsat, Qvest Engage, 3Cat and wedotv.

The evening will host the HbbTV Awards 2026 reception and ceremony, spanning five categories, including the new Excellence in HbbTV Audience Measurement & Analytics award.

Day 2 (19 November) is a participant-led unconference. Instead of formal talks, attendees propose topics during an Opening Circle, which are added to the agenda as individual sessions for open discussion of technical and business challenges in connected TV. The day comprises four 45-minute session blocks running in parallel across multiple rooms and concludes with a Closing Circle to share takeaways and outline next steps.

Prospective discussion leaders can submit ideas in advance via the "Unconference Hub" on the Symposium website, where existing proposals are visible. The final agenda is defined in the Opening Circle; only sessions pitched there proceed into the programme.

Both days will be hosted by Eoghan O'Sullivan, Moderator & Facilitator.

Industry professionals are invited to register now to secure their place at the 14th HbbTV Symposium and Awards in Barcelona. HbbTV Association members benefit from exclusive pricing. Full details on the conference, speakers and the HbbTV Awards, along with the registration form, are available at www.hbbtv.org/14th-hbbtv-symposium-and-awards-2026/.