You may have heard about LOVEStv a few days ago, a new HbbTV platform developed jointly by RTVE, Atresmedia and Mediaset. This platform could be considered as the response of public televisions to streaming video services such as Netflix. However, it works with HbbTV technology. You may wonder, what is that? This is what we are going to try to explain to you. We are going to review what HbbTV technology consists of and how to use it on our television (as long as it is compatible).
What is HbbTV?
HbbTV stands for Hybrid Broadcast Broadband TV . It is a pan-European hybrid television project whose objective is to combine television broadcasts (broadcast) with broadband services (broadband) to provide the viewer with a more complete entertainment service. In other words, it is a hybrid television that tries to provide a television service and Web content via broadband at the same time.
But don't worry, it is not another trick of the manufacturers to force us to change the television again. The HbbTV takes many years between us , although he has not done much attention. So it is very likely that your television is compatible with this system.
In fact, you may have even used it already without knowing that you were using HbbTV technology. Do you know the famous red button of RTVE? For quite some time, if we have a compatible television, when we put a RTVE channel, a message appears on the screen indicating that we can press the red button to access content . This is HbbTV technology.
In the case of RTVE, its system allows you to see the latest news and sports results, to receive additional information while watching a program. But the best thing is that we also have access to all RTVE content on demand . That is, we can watch any program of the group whenever we want.
What do I need to use HbbTV?
The first thing we need to use HbbTV is a television with an Internet connection . It doesn't have to be a modern Smart TV. As we said, HbbTV is not something new. Most TVs from 2012 onwards include this technology.
In addition to the Internet connection, we must remember that it is a hybrid system. That is, we need a connection to the terrestrial antenna . It may seem like a no-brainer, but if you only use services like Netflix, you may not have the antenna connected.
Fulfilling these two requirements, we can use the HbbTV system easily. We just have to press the blue button on the remote and move through the options.
How does LOVEStv work?
Yesterday, theoretically, the new LOVEStv service was launched. As we told you before, it is a platform based on HbbTV that offers content from RTVE, Atresmedia and Mediaset . That is, we will have available practically any content from our terrestrial television.
To use it we will only have to press the blue button on the remote. This will give us access to a more complete programming guide than that offered by normal DTT.
By pressing the yellow button we can see from the beginning a program that has already started . And the green button will give us access to the content of the platform for the last 7 days .
But all this, at the moment, we have not been able to verify it. Although LOVEStv began its operation yesterday, June 14, it seems that something has not gone well. Right now it still doesn't work . The only group that offers content on HbbTV is RTVE, which has had it for a long time.
Apparently, according to users on Twitter, the platform even showed some information yesterday, but it did not last long in operation. We will have to wait to be able to prove it.