31 January 2024
From 9-10 November, we joined numerous industry experts in Prague to attend the 10th annual HbbTV Symposium and Awards. Hosted by the HbbTV Association, this event centres around bringing the most influential figures together to discuss and celebrate the recent achievements and developments within the HbbTV and Connected TV world. Along with learning from experts, we were privileged to take the stage and share a few of our own developments.
Demo Live sneak peek
Although the main event took place in Prague, we received the opportunity to participate in HbbTV’s virtual pre-show — the HbbTV Demo Live.
During the virtual panel, Shira Leffel, Executive Director Marketing & Product Education, joined representatives from companies such as Mediacast, Yotta, Dotscreen, Konodrac, and Wiztivi, to provide a sneak peek of topics that would be further discussed during the Symposium. During Shira’s presentation, she shared a brief overview of our fully addressable TV ad break — one of our most recent HbbTV and Addressable TV developments — as well as BEE, our subsidiary Realytics’ most recent attribution and measurement tool.
smartclip at the opening ceremony
After touching down in Prague, attendees met in the heart of the city at the National House of Vinohrady to begin the main event. During the GOLD Sponsors One Minute Elevator Pitch segment, Björn Münchau, VP Advanced Integrations & Ad Formats Growth Products, kicked things off and took the stage to introduce our company and colleagues in attendance.
The implementation of HbbTV-TA and ADB2-TA by RTL and smartclip
During a presentation by Frank Heineberg, VP Standards & Innovations at RTL Deutschland, attendees gained more insight into smartclip’s Addressable TV offerings and our capabilities as a company. Over the past year and a half, RTL and smartclip have created a solution that optimises the substitution of linear ad spots via HbbTV-TA (Targeted Advertising) — an extension to the HbbTV standard that tackles its technical limitations regarding dynamic ad replacements. From the motivation behind the venture to the obstacles we faced along the way, Frank explained the whole process and shared a technological breakdown of the solution, a live demo of the product in action, and provided insight into how we are preparing further distribution paths of Addressable TV via ADB2+TA. Our technological setup utilising TA allows for the precise, seamless substitution of ad breaks in the linear TV stream while ensuring an uninterrupted viewing experience. This technology has recently been implemented — RTL and smartclip being the first ones to do so — into RTL’s RTLup linear streams and, after further testing and optimisation, will be rolled out across RTL’s other channels in the near future.
After two days of celebrating industry developments, creating meaningful connections, and sharing our solutions, we came away from Prague feeling even more inspired about the future of the industry. We had a great time and look forward to reuniting with everyone in Naples for HbbTV Symposium and Awards 2023.
Lee is the Marketing Specialist Europe at smartclip and is responsible for content writing, editing, social media, and creative support across the department and company. Originally from the United States, Lee graduated from the University of Cincinnati, where she received a Bachelor of Fine Arts degree in Electronic Media. Before joining smartclip, she has worked with various organisations managing social media accounts and assisting in the video and audio production processes.
Lee Richter
Marketing Specialist Europe
