SRG plans future with hybrid TV
SRG wants to offer new forms of television by combining traditional television with the Internet. Radio Télévision Suisse RTS is launching an initial pilot service this year. The other SRG channels will follow in the course of 2013.
Since the new generation of hybrid devices can receive both television programs and the Internet, new opportunities are opening up for audiences and program providers. For SRG, the focus is on two forms of use: "Hybrid broadcast broadband television"(HbbTV and "second screen". HbbTV enriches traditional television with Internet content. "Second screen" extends the television experience to a second screen (cell phone, tablet or laptop). Parallel to the TV program, additional information can be called up or interactive participation in a program is possible, writes SRG in a communiqué on Thursday.
SRG is currently gathering experience with internal HbbTV trials. A pilot service is already being set up for Radio Télévision Suisse RTS. Viewers of RTS are to enjoy the first additional services before the end of 2012. These include the successor service to today's teletext with current news and sports information, a video-on-demand offering of the company's own broadcasts, and services for the sensory impaired. Anyone who owns an HbbTV-compatible device can use the service. They must also have satellite reception or be connected to a network operator that supplies the additional signal. The SRG wants to gain experience with this RTS project, analyze the needs of the audience and take these into account in a later offer, according to the statement. The first second-screen applications are also being developed at RTS and SRF.
In further steps, the first HbbTV offerings will be set up for Schweizer Radio und Fernsehen SRF and Radiotelevisione svizzera RSI. In German- and Italian-speaking Switzerland, a rollout is expected in the course of 2013.
