November 15, 2018

HbbTV Awards 2018 Winners Announced

Berlin, November 15, 2018 – The HbbTV Association and Deutsche TV-Plattform are proud to announce the winners of the HbbTV Awards 2018, showcasing and celebrating excellence in the HbbTV community.

The prizes were awarded at a prestigious ceremony on November 14, 2018, as part of the 7th HbbTV Symposium and Awards, which took place in Berlin under the theme Growing Value Through HbbTV.

The winners of the HbbTV Awards 2018 and a quote from a jury member (Due to a very close result we are announcing a runner-up for two of the awards):

Best use of HbbTV for advertising and promotion

Admeira AG: OK Button: Dialogue Case (Switzerland)

Jury quote: “This is an important and powerful solution to drive engagement in advertising.”

Best use of HbbTV for broadcast enhancement

Channel One: HbbTV voting services for “Voice”, “Who wants to be a millionaire” and “Let’s get married” (Russia)

Jury quote: “Interactive TV shows at their best: Engaging and enhancing.”

Best use of HbbTV for broadcast enhancement runner-up
Sofia Digital/Digita: Participation TV with HbbTV (Finland)

Jury quote: “Brings interactive entertainment to a sizeable audience.”

Best multiscreen HbbTV service
BT: Multi Screen MotoGP concept (UK)

Jury quote: “Very sophisticated application, HbbTV 2.0 and Multiscreen at the highest level.”

Best use of HbbTV for content discovery (VOD and Guides)
ARTE G.E.I.E.: The ARTE HbbTV App (France)

Jury quote: “An elegant, rich and sophisticated user experience”

Best marketing or promotion of an HbbTV based service
CCMA: HbbTV promotion for TV3 CANAL SUPER3 (Spain)

Jury quote: “Very high impact, a good combination of social media, web and HbbTV.” 

Best technology innovation in an HbbTV product or service

ARD Play-Out-Center: Signing Livestream App/ARD (Germany)
Jury quote: “Great accessibility enhancement, well executed, with high social value.”

Best individual contribution to the HbbTV Association

Rob Foreman, BBC: HbbTV Test Suite Activity (UK)
Jury quote: “Rob is one of the most significant contributors to the HbbTV test suite.”

Judges’ Grand Prix Prize winner

Cellnex: LOVEStv (Spain)

Jury quote: “Transforms people’s viewing experience on a large scale.”

Judges’ Grand Prix Prize runner-up
BT: Multi Screen MotoGP concept (UK)

Jury quote: “Praised for its innovation.”

Special commendation from the judges

ARD Play-Out-Center: Signing Livestream App/ARD (Germany)
Jury quote: “This service had fantastic execution and solved a real problem in an innovative way.”

“Congratulations to the winners of the HbbTV Awards 2018! The jury has made an excellent choice, reflecting the variety, innovation and creativity of the entries,” said Vincent Grivet (TDF), Chair of the HbbTV Association. “The winning applications provide perfect examples of how broadcasters and platform operators can use HbbTV’s open specifications to offer the advanced hybrid services required to compete in today’s increasingly converged broadcast and broadband world.”

During the call for entries for the HbbTV Awards 2018, a total of 48 submissions were received covering 36 services and 12 countries. The shortlists of finalists were put forward to an independent jury of industry experts which selected the winners. Details about this year’s jury members can be found here.