All major German broadcasters will be showcasing a number of interactive HbbTV applications during this year’s consumer electronics show IFA in Berlin. Public broadcaster ARD has earmarked HbbTV as the main focus for this year’s event.
Colleague ZDF is also progressing with its HbbTV offers and RTL Deutschland said earlier this year it will deploy its RTL HD Text later this year. The ProSiebenSat.1 group is also showcasing the new connected TV technology at the fair. The broadcaster will start regular test broadcast during the show.
All major German broadcasters have been broadcasting HbbTV apps since late last year and are now intent to give the technology a major push to put it in front of the consumers’ eyes.
The organisers of IFA sre upbeat about this year’s event. According to Hans-Joachim Kamp, Vice-President of ZVEI and member of the Supervisory Board of IFA’s organisers, Gesellschaft für Unterhaltungs- und Kommunikationselektronik mbH (gfu), the markets are in a positive mood. “The economic performance figures released by the Ifo index and GfK Konsumklima bode well for IFA. Following outstanding sales of TV sets (+34 %) during the World Cup, gfu expects turnover in the German consumer electronics market to grow to around 25 billion Euros.”
The market sectors represented at IFA will have a wide range of innovative products on show. HDTV, 3D TV, home networking, TV/internet convergence and mobile media are the current trends driving the CE market.
