Everyone wants to know what the next big thing is going to be, and if market analyst Datamonitor is to be believed the answer is mobile broadcast television. With the opportunity to combine two of the undeniably most popular and successful consumer products in history, namely TV and mobile telephones, Datamonitor predicts the number of mobile broadcast TV subscribers will grow from the 4.4 million there are today to an estimated 155.6 million by the end of 2012.

However the Datamonitor report “Opportunities in the mobile broadcast TV market, 2006 – 2012” does note that that although Mobile broadcast TV is continually highlighted as being the next big thing, there are also considerable hurdles that need to be overcome for this promise to be fulfilled.

“Currently there are about 4.4 million mobile broadcast TV subscribers globally and at that, split just between a handful of countries. This subscriber base will grow to 65.6 million in 2010 and more than double to an estimated 155.6 million by 2012 - a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 66.2%,” Chris Khouri, associate media and broadcasting analyst with Datamonitor and author of the study told DaniWeb, continuing “However, consumer education, technological fragmentation and content adaptation will have to be addressed first before mass-adoption can take place.”

Datamonitor expects the Asia-Pacific region to have 76.3 million subscribers by 2012. Europe will have the second largest subscriber base with an estimated 42.7 million subscribers by 2012 with a CAGR of 102% from 2006. This high growth rate is directly attributable to the predicted pan-European push for mobile broadcast TV between 2009 and 2012.

Interestingly, North America is expected to have a subscriber base of just 35.6 million.

Despite these opportunities, there are notable barriers to mass-adoption of mobile broadcast TV services. Content such, as advertising, will have to adapt to the constraints of the mobile device as well as the transforming usage habits of an ‘on-the-go’ consumer. But consumer education is expected to be one of the biggest barriers for mass-adoption. “In most cases, consumers need to ‘see it to believe it’ in order to see value in subscribing to a mobile broadcast TV service. Strong and innovative marketing campaigns, such as viral marketing or traveling exhibitions, will considerably aide in the mass-adoption of mobile broadcast TV services” Khouri concludes.