Warner Bros. Discovery (WBD) has introduced a new HbbTV-based system for personalised advertising on its free-to-air (FTA) channels, developed with Amazon Web Services (AWS).
First deployed in Italy, the solution uses HbbTV as the trigger and control layer for server-side ad insertion, enabling targeted ads within the broadcast stream by combining traditional linear television with broadband internet connectivity, as detailed in an AWS blogpost.
WBD positions HbbTV as the key enabler of its linear transformation. “Free-to-air TV is still dominant in Europe, and we think there’s a lot of potential for innovation in linear TV,” said Luca Nicoli, Vice President of Warner Bros. Discovery. “HbbTV was a big advancement that enabled TV interactivity. We’re now in a place where we have the technology to significantly transform the linear experience.”
The system combines broadcast delivery with IP-based dynamic stream assembly, triggered via HbbTV signalling to activate AWS’s server-side ad insertion workflow. Samuele Macchi, Director Technical Development at WBD, said the team needed “an ad-insertion workflow capable of supporting true start-over functionality on HbbTV while preserving broadcast-quality reliability.”
The HbbTV-based start-over function allows viewers to restart a programme from the beginning, effectively a VOD-like experience inside the linear environment. Viewer engagement has risen sharply, with average ad-viewing sessions increasing from a few minutes to around 20 minutes, according to the blogpost.
The technical architecture relies on AWS MediaConnect, MediaLive, MediaConvert, MediaPackage and MediaTailor, with global distribution handled via CloudFront. The ability to source and integrate all components from a single vendor “massively simplifies our work,” stressed Nicoli.
Following the successful Italian rollout, WBD is preparing to extend the HbbTV-based solution to Poland, Spain and Germany. Each market requires extensive device testing due to varying HbbTV implementations, but the broadcaster expects the model to scale effectively across Europe.
WBD sees the system as a blueprint for upgrading the commercial potential of FTA broadcasting, using HbbTV to merge broadcast reach with the addressability of digital environments.
