StreamHub has been named the winner of the DVB-I user interface competition, taking the top prize of €10,000 for its Android application built around the DVB-I specification.
Developed by Hyunmin Jeon, the app impressed judges with what they described as a premium, streaming-grade user experience that translates the strengths of leading OTT services into a DVB-I environment.
The competition, launched by DVB in May 2025, challenged developers to design innovative clients and applications demonstrating how DVB-I can enhance content discovery and programme information across broadcast and IP-delivered services. An international panel of experts evaluated the entries across several categories, including usability, innovation and effective use of DVB-I metadata, with the winners announced during an online event in mid-January 2026.
StreamHub stood out by combining a clean, modern interface with deep integration of DVB-I features. The app supports automatic service list discovery via the DVB-I Service List Registry, selecting the most relevant service list based on a user’s detected country and region. Users can browse channels and rich EPG data, including genre, age rating and accessibility flags, and access live and catch-up streams with low latency. Additional features such as picture-in-picture viewing, restart TV, unified search, favourites management and Google Cast integration were cited by judges as evidence of a polished and intuitive experience that feels familiar to users of leading OTT services while enhancing the traditional TV channel experience. StreamHub topped three of the five judging categories by a clear margin.
The winning project will be honoured during a special session at DVB World 2026, taking place in Amsterdam on 17–18 March, including a presentation from its developer.
Second prize was awarded to Zappin Media for its Android app Zappin, which explores how DVB-I can bridge traditional broadcast and modern digital media. The application combines DVB-I service discovery and EPG browsing with AI-assisted content search, channel-based social interaction and an interactive live feed. It also supports companion-screen scenarios, allowing users to send a live broadcast to a connected TV while continuing to engage socially on a mobile device. Judges highlighted the app’s forward-looking use of AI, its flexibility and its clean, intuitive design, describing it as a strong and contemporary interpretation of DVB-I.
Third prize went to an AI agent for DVB-I developed by 3Cat, which also ranked first in the innovation category. The project integrates a conversational AI agent into a DVB-I environment, enabling viewers to search content, switch between live services or restart programmes using voice or text via a companion mobile app. By leveraging DVB-I’s structured metadata endpoints, including service lists, schedules and programme information, the system demonstrates how standardised data can act as a semantic backbone for AI-driven television interfaces. Judges described the entry as a standout innovation that could fundamentally reshape how audiences interact with TV.
According to DVB, the competition underlines the growing maturity of DVB-I as a platform for next-generation TV user interfaces, showing how standardised metadata can support both familiar streaming-style experiences and entirely new, AI-led forms of interaction.
