HbbTV to take off next year in Spain
November 18, 2011
From David Del Valle in Madrid
Spain’s electronic industry forecasts that connected TV will take off next year in the country with 25 per cent of the estimated 4.5 million TV sets to be sold ready for HbbTV, according to Ametic.
In the current year, 15 per cent (675,000) of 4.5 million TV sets sold are HbbTV-ready, but worldwide events like the Olympic Games or the Euro Cup Football in 2012 will boost the acquisition of HbbTV-ready TV sets.
To make it come true, the electronic industry has urged the Administration to rule it and lay the legal groundwork for the development of HbbTV following the example of Germany and France. “We need a legal guarantee to implement it”, said Jesus Casado, representative of Ametic.
Spanish broadcasters have publicly backed the HbbTV standard, promoted by EBU and are making HbbTV trials at the present time. Mediaset, owner of Tele 5 and Cuatro, TVE and Telefonica are developing an HbbTV project, with plans by RTVE to launch a specific service to cover the Olympic Games. Canal Plus has also launched Canal + Yomvi with access to TV content though different devices (PC, Ipad, Iphone, video consoles, connected TV).