That the search giant will invigorate its Google TV service in 2012 is not open to serious doubt, however Google making a play in cable TV most certainly would be unexpected and such a move is imminent say two leading US media analysts.

According to entertainment industry bible The Hollywood Reporter, Google’s long awaited enhancement of its TV options will based on the premise that an online video only play is not economically viable and so will seek to acquire ways of entry via traditional pay-TV channels, kicking off with the Mid West region of the US .

The HR quotes a Sanford C. Bernstein report authored by analysts Internet Carlos Kirjner and Craig Moffett as saying: “Recent regulatory filings make it a near-certainty that Google will enter the pay-TV market in Kansas City, Kansas, and Kansas City, Missouri…We expect Google to file for cable TV franchise licenses in both jurisdictions very soon. Google's decision to enter the video market is perhaps best viewed as an experiment in video delivery and package, but perhaps also as an admission that their original proposal of a broadband-only business model is not economically viable."

Making such a move in such a way would almost certainly see Google enter a battle royal with incumbent cable TV MSO Time Warner Cable.