While many international operators have targeted 2008 as a turning point for mobile TV, citing consumer demand tied to the Beijing Summer Olympics and soccer's UEFA Euro 2008 Championship, media analysis firm Screen Digest predicts those opportunities are likely to be squandered, according to FierceMobileContent.

"Coverage will be far from nationwide when key sporting events kick off... [and] a key opportunity to measure European consumer desire for mobile TV services is likely to be lost," Screen Digest senior mobile media analyst David MacQueen said in the article.

Given that Europe is ahead of the U.S. with regard to mobile TV services and deployment, this could signal slower growth for the U.S. as well. That dovetails neatly with a report from BusinessWeek a few days ago suggesting that the mobile ad market isn't growing as fast as expected and is due for a shakeup.

Forecast: Mobile TV to miss 2008 milestones [FierceMobileContent]