Digital TV services are forecast to reach around 165 million homes in Western Europe and the United States by 2012, up from around 105 million households now subscribing to satellite, cable and IPTV services, according to "European and US Digital TV, 2006-2012," a new report by Datamonitor, MarketingCharts reports.

With consumers able to access broadcast video content via a variety of methods - cable, satellite, internet protocol TV (IPTV), Digital Terrestrial TV (DTT), online video aggregators and mobile broadcast TV - service operators are up against massive competition, Datamonitor said.

More forecast data from Datamonitor:

• By 2012, there will be some 77.7 million satellite households in the US and Western Europe.
• Digital cable is expected to show significant growth particularly as analog cable is switched to digital: By 2012, there will be an estimated 69 million digital cable households, an average annual increase of 8.4 percent from 2006.
• One of the most recent entrants into the pay-TV arena, IPTV, is expected to undergo the largest growth: By 2012, it will be present in an estimated 19.3 million households - a compound annual growth rate of 41.8 percent from 2006.
• Broadband penetration creates both opportunities and challenges for traditional video aggregators.

The proliferation of high-speed connectivity is a double-edged sword for pay-TV service operators, Datamonitor said: The entrance of broadband into the home gives consumers the ability to access a vast array of entertainment options that may not necessarily fall within a service operator's own content networ, and consumers are able access alternative forms of entertainment in much greater quantities as connectivity speed increases.