More than 50 percent of pay-TV operators, broadcasters and studios are planning to increase their investment in technology in 2011. The technology spend will be fueled by broadcasters’ need to strengthen advertising spend and renewed confidence in the segment outlook, according to an Ovum survey.

For the survey, Ovum (News - Alert) interviewed 150 senior IT and production technology executives at major public and private broadcasters in Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific to gain insight into investment priorities for 2011.

Around 41 percent of respondents in Asia-Pacific plan to increase their IT, production and distribution technology spend by over 6 percent in 2011.

The growth will continue in 2012, as 26 percent would increase budgets by more than 6 percent, while 43 percent respondents are keen to increase spending by 1-5 percent.

“Globally broadcast media markets are benefiting from a strengthening macroeconomic outlook and increased confidence in the near-term defensibility of broadcast advertising models, and opportunities for multi-screen services,” said Adrian Drury, principal analyst at Ovum and author of a new report, in a statement. “This is giving broadcasters the confidence to signal that they will be increasing their technology budgets sequentially over the next two years.”

For Asian broadcasters, the top technology investment priorities are to reduce operational costs through a shift to file-based workflow and automation. The other priorities include exploitation of social media for audience acquisition, the launch of new high-definition (HD) channels, and advanced audience measurement and targeted advertising initiatives.

Broadcasters may look at the growth of smartphone and tablet penetration, social media usage and the availability of return path data for their technology enhancements. In line with the global trend, the lowest priority for survey respondents across Asia was the production of 3D broadcast content and the launch of 3D channels.

Recently, In-Stat, an independent market research firm, said the size of the U.S. broadcast storage and news production systems will have an annual value of $368 million during 2015.

The broadcast storage is undergoing a period of change, as TV stations move to file-based workflows and network play-out centers move to HD and 3D services. U.S. broadcasters will launch local mobile DTV services, and all content needs to be re-purposed for new devices like iPads, tablets, and smartphones.