As our industry continues its rapid evolution across broadcast, broadband, and hybrid delivery, one challenge keeps resurfacing: fragmented service discovery and user experience. Whether a viewer is accessing a channel via terrestrial, satellite, cable, IPTV, OTT, or the open internet, the mechanisms used to find, launch, and navigate those services differ widely. This fragmentation places significant burdens on broadcasters, operators, manufacturers, and, most importantly, viewers.
But there is a solution emerging with real momentum: DVB-I.
Why DVB-I Makes Sense Now
DVB-I is designed for the internet era and provides a common, standards-based way to describe and present television services on any connected device, regardless of whether the underlying delivery is broadcast or IP-based.
Crucially, DVB-I is not a delivery technology, it doesn’t replace DVBT/C/S or OTT infrastructure. Instead, it separates service discovery and presentation from how streams are delivered. That abstraction layer is powerful.
A Unifying Service Layer
DVB-I enables a device to integrate and present broadcast and broadband services through a single, consistent service list. Viewers don’t need to understand how the content gets to them; they just select a channel.
This makes DVB-I the first genuine network agnostic service discovery framework, opening a path toward hybrid and IP only futures without breaking today’s experiences.
Beyond DVB
DVB-I is a DVB standard and a key component of DVB’s next-generation IP-centric broadcast framework, DVB-NIP. While designed within the DVB ecosystem, DVB-I’s internet-centric approach gives it potential relevance beyond DVB, including possible applicability to standards such as ATSC 3.0 and, conceptually, even ATSC 1.0.
Although ATSC 3.0 is inherently IP-based, its service discovery mechanism remains broadcast-centric. DVB-I offers the potential to provide a unified, IP first service discovery layer that could integrate ATSC 3.0 services with broadband only channels and legacy ATSC 1.0 content.
In principle, DVB-I could also extend the reach of ATSC 3.0 by enabling service discovery on tuner-less, second screen IP only devices, such as mobile phones and tablets, thereby helping broadcasters deliver a more consistent, unified experience across both broadcast and mobile platforms.
A Win for Broadcasters, Operators, and Manufacturers
The benefits of DVB-I sit across the entire ecosystem:
Broadcasters
DVB-I supports hybrid service models that can blend broadcast delivery with IP for enhancements like UHD channels, popup event channels, NextGen audio, and more, all while maintaining a unified EPG. It even supports future migration paths into 5G Media Streaming and 5G Broadcast.
Operators
Cable, satellite, IPTV, and OTT providers can aggregate diverse service offerings into unified service lists without maintaining multiple apps across device platforms.
Device Manufacturers
Instead of supporting an ever-growing list of apps, manufacturers can deliver a single, consistent device native UX for linear and OnDemand content.
This is especially relevant to DTVKit members and the open, shared source model that encourages reusable and interoperable broadcast software components.
A Sensible and Strategic Industry Direction
Given today’s mix of DVB broadcast standards, ATSC deployments, the rise of streaming, and emerging 5G media systems, DVB-I offers a pragmatic and future-proof bridge. It ensures that:
- services are discoverable in the same way across technologies,
- user interfaces remain consistent,
- and industry stakeholders can deploy once and reach many platforms.
Research into DVB-I over 5G networks highlights the standard’s adaptability to hybrid broadcast–unicast environments, improving coverage, enabling new experiences, and reducing distribution costs.
At a time when global video platforms continue to reshape viewing habits, DVB-I gives national broadcasters, local operators, and device ecosystems a way to innovate together rather than drift apart.
Closing Thought
Working at the heart of open digital TV software through DTVKit, I see DVB‑I as far more than another specification. It represents a meaningful step toward greater cohesion, simplicity, and long‑term sustainability across our industry.
DVB‑I offers a practical way to bring broadcast and streaming closer together—without enforcing a single business model or limiting innovation. For organisations like ours, built on openness, collaboration, and shared technical foundations, it feels like a natural evolution. It aligns strongly with where the market is heading, and you can expect to see more from DTVKit in this space very soon.
Learn More About DVB‑I
The DVB Project has published an excellent explainer aimed at business and policy leaders, which is a great starting point for understanding the opportunity DVB‑I presents; it can be found here.
