HbbTV Reveals 2026 Awards Finalists And Barcelona Ceremony Details

The HbbTV Association, the global initiative advancing open standards for interactive television, has unveiled the finalists for the HbbTV Awards 2026. From 25 submissions, 19 entries have been shortlisted from 16 companies and organisations across five categories.

Excellence in HbbTV Audience Measurement & Analytics (new in 2026): Admongrel: Mongrel.live, a real-time audience measurement platform for broadcasters; TVA Group Limited: TVA (Television Analytics), GDPR-compliant audience measurement, now extended to SES satellites; TVekstra: Identity & Re-marketing Extension for HbbTV, connecting linear TV exposure with addressable TV activation.

Outstanding HbbTV Advertising Campaign: ATRESMEDIA: AXA, linear TV and connected TV combined to precisely control the exposure frequency; Mediaset España: Dual Video Overlay, video ads played over the live broadcast without affecting the live broadcast programme; TVekstra: McDonald's – Multiply your happiness at an affordable price, a campaign with a measured increase in restaurant visits.

HbbTV Application Innovation Award: Eutelsat: Sat.tv Connect, a white label platform combining HbbTV, DVB-I discovery and usage measurement for free-to-air satellite TV channels; HD+ TV App, adding IP-only channels into the satellite channel list; Mediaset España: Churn Reduction, personalised channel suggestions that keep viewers within Mediaset's channels; rbb/ARD: From teaser to personal journey – the next level of ARD HbbTV launcher app, personalised teasers linking linear TV to streaming; ZDF: Green TV-Buddy, showing viewers their TV's power consumption and savings through ECO mode.

HbbTV Enabling Technology Award: 3Cat: Universal Mediasync, an open-source companion app for HbbTV inter-device synchronisation; Admongrel: AdVantage, HbbTV content delivered via satellite to households without an internet connection; DTG D-Book Freely IP-Only Test Suite, developed by DTG Testing and Everyone TV for testing devices without a tuner; Suitest: Automated Freely OpApp Certification, developed with Everyone TV.

HbbTV Rising Star Award: AGF Videoforschung, adding HbbTV return-channel data to Germany's national TV audience measurement from 2028; BCi Digital, addressable advertising for live linear television, now with a live test channel in the UK; Konodrac, for pioneering HbbTV in Thailand with audience measurement as a first application; TVekstra, from regional HbbTV specialist to international technology player.

"The sophistication, quality and innovative spirit of this year's submissions impressed our review panel even more than in previous years," said Vincent Grivet, Chair of the HbbTV Association. "With such a large flow of high-quality entries, deciding who should make the shortlists was far from easy, and the margin was often very thin. I congratulate all shortlisted companies on their work with HbbTV and look forward to celebrating with them in Barcelona. I would also like to express my appreciation to the non-shortlisted candidates, who presented great work as well."

The winners will be chosen by the HbbTV Awards 2026 jury and announced at the ceremony on the evening of 18 November 2026, the opening day of the 14th HbbTV Symposium and Awards. The Symposium runs from 18–19 November 2026 at the Catalonia Barcelona Plaza Hotel, Barcelona, Spain, co-hosted by the HbbTV Association and 3Cat. All shortlisted organisations are invited to attend the celebration.

The HbbTV Awards jury evaluates finalists on innovation, technical excellence, execution, impact and contribution to the HbbTV ecosystem. Further information about the 14th HbbTV Symposium and Awards is available on the event website, and registration is open.

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