When it comes to HbbTV, the Czech Republic is undoubtedly one of the pacesetters in Central and Eastern Europe.
Just this week we reported on what has already been described as the most important development in the Czech TV industry in 2016, namely the launch of the first virtual HbbTV channel, not just in the country but the region as a whole.
Seznam.cz, the company behind the project, already operates an AVOD service named stream.cz. What is particularly interesting about the latter is that Seznam produces nearly all of its content, which is quite unique for a Czech media company. Moreover, Seznam plans to double its investment in content between now and the end of the year.
To launch the channel, known as Seznam.cz TV, Seznam teamed up with the Czech company Mautilus, which developed the HbbTV application. Broadband TV News readers may recall that just a month ago Mautilus also helped TV Markiza, the leading broadcaster in neighbouring Slovakia, launch its first HbbTV application, in that particular instance allowing viewers to watch news, weather information and Teletext.
In the case of the Czech virtual HbbTV channel, the application is delivered to viewers by DVB-T, via the country’s fourth multiplex. However, it is planned to eventually also do so by DVB-S and DVB-C.
Broadband TV News has been made aware of the exception challenges that were faced by Mautilus in testing the application on TVs. As the UI was more complex than usual and the goal one of achieving the fastest responsiveness possible, no fewer than 50 sets were used for iterative testing. They were placed in three parallel running DVB-T test multiplexes, each with its own HbbTV playout for testing.
Thanks to the company’s efforts, the application works on not only the latest and most popular models but also on older models, including ones dating back to 2011/2012, as well as less common brands.
