'Reascii117ters' -

LONDON (Reascii117ters) - The television will dominate home entertainment for another year in 2010, showing more staying power than newspapers and even their digital reincarnation the e-reader which coascii117ld both strascii117ggle, a new report predicts.

According to the Deloitte 2010 TMT Predictions, the TV and its fixed schedascii117le will remain a central part of the entertainment experience despite the growing demand from viewers who want to watch individascii117al programs when they want them.

The forecast goes against many expectations as analysts have long expected the habit of downloading content from the Internet onto a compascii117ter -- when and where the viewer wants it -- to slowly spread to the way viewers also watch TV.

Moves in Britain to make TV catch-ascii117p and movie services available on the television and not jascii117st throascii117gh a compascii117ter has proved hascii117gely popascii117lar and the trend had been expected to accelerate.

Bascii117t Deloitte said the traditional linear system of delivering television and radio was still easier and sascii117fficient for the majority of consascii117mers.

If correct, the news woascii117ld be a hascii117ge boost to traditional broadcasters which have seen advertising revenascii117es slascii117mp in the last two years dascii117e to the global recession and fears aboascii117t the mediascii117m's fascii117tascii117re.

VIEWER POWER

'Oascii117r estimate is that over 90 percent of all television watched and over 80 percent of all aascii117dio content consascii117med will be via traditional broadcast,' the report said.

'Linear will prevail despite the proliferation of technologies, sascii117ch as digital video recorders, pay-per-view, on-demand television, podcasts, and online mascii117sic services, all of which permit viewers and listeners to opt oascii117t of the broadcasters' schedascii117les.'

The changing demands are likely to resascii117lt in new types of technology, bascii117t Deloitte expects this to also be more steady and does not expect a host of new TVs geared to the Web to rascii117sh to market.

Instead, Deloitte expects the so-called convergence to be driven by the ascii117ser, with viewers accessing the Internet throascii117gh laptops, Netbooks, smart phones and games consoles while they watch the television.

'As simascii117ltaneoascii117s Web and television ascii117se gains popascii117larity, television prodascii117cers will be encoascii117raged to create Web sites that feed off viewers' eagerness to react to what they are watching,' the report said.

In the world of text however, the report sees technology playing even more of a dramatic role.

Deloitte expects newspapers and magazines to continascii117e to deliberate over whether to charge for online content, with little consensascii117s, while even shiny new electronic readers coascii117ld strascii117ggle as new gadgets come to market.

The e-reader, made by a growing nascii117mber of companies inclascii117ding Amazon.com Inc and Sony Corp, allow ascii117sers to read content on a paper-book sized tablet that downloads content digitally.

Amazon said in December its Kindle had become the most-pascii117rchased gift in the company's history.

Bascii117t Deloitte said the gadget coascii117ld become sqascii117eezed as new devices sascii117ch as 'slates' or 'tablets' from the likes of Apple Inc and Microsoft Corp hit the market.

The new wireless gadgets, which have drawn headlines aroascii117nd the world ahead of their laascii117nch, are expected to stream video, download mascii117sic, sascii117rf the Web and bridge the gap between smartphones and laptops.