The 13th HbbTV Symposium and Awards, held on 12-13 November 2025 in Istanbul, highlighted the accelerating international momentum of HbbTV across Europe and beyond, particularly in Turkey, the Middle East and North Africa (MENA). Co-hosted by the HbbTV Association and Turkish addressable advertising solutions provider TVekstra, the event demonstrated HbbTV’s role as a unifying standard in an increasingly fragmented Connected TV (CTV) landscape.
The programme brought together broadcasters, platform operators, manufacturers, technology and advertising service providers and researchers for keynotes, presentations and roundtable discussions. Core themes included the fragmentation of the CTV environment across over a dozen operating systems, rapid growth in HbbTV-based addressable advertising, audience measurement, analytics and consent management solutions, opportunities emerging through FAST Channels and the role of HbbTV and DVB-I in hybrid and IP-only environments. Turkey’s own ecosystem stood out as a fast-moving hub, with strong deployments, advanced ad-tech capabilities and a thriving community of technology innovators.
The 8th HbbTV Awards on 12 November recognised excellence in advertising innovation, accessibility, content discovery, AI-driven applications and next-generation user experiences. The winners’ submissions illustrate the breadth and maturity of innovation within the global HbbTV community.
“This was probably our best Symposium yet - exceptional in its setting, content, engagement and the many new participants it attracted. Istanbul clearly showed how far HbbTV has expanded globally, with 34 million reachable homes in MENA adding to the 100-million milestone reached in Europe this year,” said HbbTV Chairman Vincent Grivet. “The standard now goes well beyond the red button into advertising, measurement, analytics and consent solutions. In today’s highly fragmented CTV environment, HbbTV provides a unifying framework that allows a single application to run reliably across diverse operating systems and devices, reducing complexity, saving time and costs while improving efficiency.”
Merve Eraslanoğlu, CEO, TVekstra, added: “HbbTV’s Istanbul Symposium clearly demonstrated how rapidly the CTV ecosystem is maturing across the MENA region and how essential interoperable standards are to unlocking its full potential. For TVekstra, the event underscored the rising demand for transparent, scalable and privacy-first advertising solutions that work reliably across diverse platforms and devices. With millions of households now reachable and strong momentum from broadcasters and advertisers alike, the market is primed for meaningful transformation. We were proud to co-host an event that fostered collaboration, aligned industry expectations and set the foundation for the next stage of CTV growth in the region.”
The 14th HbbTV Symposium and Awards will take place in Spain in 2026, continuing the event’s rotation across major HbbTV markets while inspiring and encouraging broader international engagement.
All presentations, the event brochure, picture gallery, participants list, details on the speakers, sponsors and media partners as well as the Awards winners are available on the Symposium website.
About the HbbTV Association
Hybrid broadcast broadband TV (or "HbbTV") is a global initiative developing a specification enabling the delivery of advanced and interactive TV and entertainment services to consumers through a combined use of both broadcast and broadband networks. The HbbTV specification is developed by industry leaders to improve the video experience of consumers on connected TV sets, set-top boxes and multiscreen devices. The HbbTV specification uses elements of existing specifications from other standards including OIPF, CEA, DVB, MPEG-DASH and W3C. With the incorporation of activities from the Open IPTV Forum (OIPF) in 2014 and Smart TV Alliance in 2016, HbbTV is able to address service providers and technology suppliers for IPTV services as well as the combined scope of broadcast and over-the-top (OTT) services.
HbbTV is organised as a non-profit association registered in Switzerland and has around 80 members which include all global TV manufacturers, the large European broadcasters and TV platforms as well as a vast array of global technology and chipset vendors.
About TVekstra
TVekstra is a leading provider of addressable TV advertising solutions, enabling broadcasters and advertisers to deliver highly targeted and interactive campaigns through advanced, data-driven technology. With access to over 11.5 million households in Turkey and partnerships across 38 channels in Azerbaijan, TVekstra is rapidly expanding its international presence.
TVekstra’s platform simplifies addressable TV by offering comprehensive tools for campaign management, operational workflows, and interactive landing page creation - all supported by demographic, behavioural, and viewing data. Broadcasters also benefit from real-time TV analytics, updated every 30 seconds and presented through an intuitive dashboard for actionable insights.
Trusted by over 60 channels in Turkey, 150+ agencies, and 750+ leading brands, TVekstra executes more than 2,000 campaigns annually. TVekstra’s award-winning innovations - recognised with 20+ national and international honors - have solidified its position at the forefront of connected TV advertising.
TVekstra is dedicated to advancing the future of television by supporting HbbTV portals, electronic program guides (EPGs), and a range of broadcaster services. Our mission is to help clients maximise the impact of their advertising strategies in today’s dynamic digital landscape.
Info: www.hbbtv.org
Notes: Press Release | HbbTV Association | Istanbul, 24 November 2025
Technological Online Portal radiotvlink.com was Media Partner of HbbTV Symposium 2025
