London/Sydney – The coming 12 months will see the broadcast sector addressing new business models for distribution and advertising in a bid to retain and attract new audiences. This is one of the key conclusions drawn in ‘2008 Trends to Watch: Media and broadcasting technology’ a report from independent market analyst Datamonitor. The report says the transforming communications and entertainment sector is creating a challenging new environment for traditional broadcasters. In order to remain competitive, digital TV players will need to utilize effective technological solutions to aid multi-platform distribution and value-add services. Consumers are faced with an unprecedented number of methods to watch and obtain video content. “From personal media players (PMPs), to TV sets, to mobile phones, people will access media content on a variety of different devices over a multitude of communications networks,” says the report’s author Chris Khouri, media and broadcasting analyst at Datamonitor. “As such, broadcasters are faced with strong pressure to adapt to multi-platform entertainment provision. With only so many hours in a day, retaining and attracting consumers requires a thorough understanding of evolving consumption habits.” As a whole, Datamonitor expects the global broadcast market to experience significant revenue growth from US$284.1 billion in 2007 to US$326.2 billion by 2010. However, it is expected that growth will only be secured through revenue diversification from value-add and bundled services including Internet service provision, HD content, on-demand solutions, interactive applications and multi-platform distribution. Advertising has been a steadfast revenue generator for the broadcast sector, says Khouri. “However, as consumption habits transform and consumers utilize multi-platform channels as well as on-demand and time-shifted viewing, traditional revenue generation models are losing their effectiveness to bring returns. Broadcasters therefore will need to look to a variety of diversified revenue streams to bolster income.”