Despite the expectations generated by the huge success of the film Avatar and the tens of millions invested by companies such as BSkyB, 3D TV will "struggle" to take off and will not become part of mainstream viewing, according to a report.

Last year 125,000 UK households bought a 3D-ready TV set and almost 90% of them were "active" viewers of 3D shows, according to research from Informa Telecoms & Media.

Such a high adoption rate is likely to have buoyed broadcaster expectations in the future potential of 3D TV – particularly for BSkyB, which has pushed the technology hard.

In March the satellite broadcaster said it had shown more that 100 sporting events including golf's Ryder Cup, darts and the Champions League, as well as more eclectic fare such as Sir David Attenborough's award-winning Flying Monsters, and the final of talent contest Got To Dance.

But despite BSkyB's enthusiasm the report forecasts a patchy future for 3D TV.

While the number of households in the UK with 3D TV sets will climb to almost 11 million by 2016 – about a third of the total number of homes – only 42% are expected to actually use them to watch any 3D programming on a regular basis.

"3D TV has the backing of the major UK broadcasters like Sky and Virgin, and most recently the BBC," said Adam Thomas, senior analyst at IT&M. "However despite this public reaction has been mixed, due to both a lack of content and a simple failure of the public to engage."

BSkyB is far ahead of rivals in the 3D market. It launched Europe's first 3D TV channel in October, while Virgin Media has argued that the technology is likely to be of limited interest to customers, possibly as an on-demand offering only.

BSkyB has been providing the service free to Sky HD customers and IF&T says that 3D has been pushed as "the next big thing" in mainstream TV viewing and a "natural successor" to HD.

Sky has had huge success with HD with 3.7m customers, close to 40% of the satellite company's total customer base, signing up.

"Instead of a USP [unique selling point], 3D is now often marketed as just one of the set's benefits along with features such as internet-connection capability and LED backlighting," said Thomas.

However, if Sky can continue to dominate the 3D TV market then it will still be tapping significant revenues from the approximately 4.6m households expected to be "regular" viewers of 3D content in 2016.

Virgin offers 3D movies on demand to viewers with a compatible TV. The BBC is to make its first foray into 3D TV with its coverage of the men's and women's Wimbledon finals this year.

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