HbbTV Association forms Audience Measurement Group to standardize hybrid TV metrics

Broadcasters are struggling to provide advertisers with unified reach and frequency data as viewing shifts between traditional chips and IP streams. By moving beyond hardware specifications to software reference implementations, HbbTV aims to professionalize the 'big data' return path from connected TVs to compete with walled gardens. This initiative concretely bridges the gap between panel-based measurement and census-level device data, which is essential for scaling addressable advertising. Watch for the election of a permanent chair from a major measurement firm in late 2026 as a signal of institutional buy-in from legacy ratings providers.

The formation of the AMG follows a period of rapid technical iteration for the association. In March 2026, HbbTV published version 2.0.5 of its core specification, which formalized support for Digital Rights Management (DRM) and next-generation video codecs like AV1 and VVC. Per HbbTV reporting from June 2026, the association also re-elected Vincent Grivet as Chair for a two-year term and welcomed TV manufacturer Vestel and the UK’s Digital TV Group (DTG) back to its Steering Group, signaling renewed focus on the critical UK and European markets.

Market adoption of HbbTV-enabled addressable advertising is already showing significant scale. According to Dataxis projections from October 2024, more than half of all European households will be reachable via HbbTV by late 2026, representing approximately 120 million unique homes. This scale has led to successful hybrid measurement pilots in markets like Spain, where broadcasters have used HbbTV data to virtually eliminate 'zero ratings' for niche and regional programming by fusing traditional panel results with real-time census data from connected devices, per Konodrac reporting in July 2026.

The HbbTV Association's structural shift to include Application Interest Groups reflects a broader industry move toward interoperable advertising standards. Current work is also focused on the HbbTV-TA (Targeted Advertising) specification, which allows for frame-accurate substitution of broadcast ads with broadband-delivered creative. As European broadcasters like RTL and Seven.One Media integrate these features, the AMG's role in standardizing how that performance is tracked will be central to maintaining eCPMs against global streaming competitors.