As the rest of the country votes for Brexit the BBC has announced it’s to follow the international standards followed in mainland Europe.
It plans to work alongside Freeview, Digital UK and the DTG on a new plan that would lead to the industry-wide adoption of HbbTV 2.0.1 in time for equipment manufacturers to build HbbTV into 2018 product cycles.
The Freeview Play platform already uses HBBtv and Freesat Freetime adopted the technology at launch in 2011.
The BBC will remove the MHEG requirement from the ‘BBC Interactive HTML application’ specification, and work with industry partners to align other specifications such as the D-Book owned by the DTG, and the Freeview Play specification and Trade Mark Licence framework managed by Digital UK and Freeview.
A joint plan will be developed by the BBC, Freeview, Digital UK and the DTG by September 2016. It will then be shared publicly in relevant industry forums. The plan will include, among other things, the development and sharing of test applications to enable manufacturers to ensure correct behaviour of the new HbbTV-based services.
The BBC says the approach addresses the feedback received to date from manufacturers while balancing the needs of audiences to drive the industry forwards and provide a better environment for UK free-to-air services.
MHEG has been used by the BBC since the launch of digital TV services in 1997.
