What is TV going to look like in five years? That was the big question asked at the Children, Youth & Media Conference hosted by the Alliance for Children and Television in Toronto, Canada last week.

A full day of panels featuring heavy hitters from both the production and broadcasts side of the kids entertainment biz gathered to discuss the state of the nation. And like much industry chat over the past 18 months, as digital delivery modes continue to proliferate, talk turned to whether or not TV was on its last leg.

‘When will TV die? Probably never, it’s an evolving process,’ noted Scott Dyer, EVP and GM of Corus Kids at Corus Entertainment.

Dyer, who sat on the Future of Evolution of Rights panel along with Breakthrough Entertainment managing partner Kevin Gillis and moderator and Sinking Ship Entertainment partner J.J. Johnson, was optimistic about the future of the linear medium in the new digital age.

‘The place to watch TV is still in front of the TV,’ he said. ‘We know that the future is integration, but I don’t think TV will just disappear.’

The panel agreed that broadcasters are now, more than ever, in the ‘brand business’ but formulating an answer to exactly how that’s getting translated into new online business models had most flummoxed.

‘More advertising dollars aren’t available just because there is more content out there,’ said Dyer.

It’s a war that has been fought on many fronts over the last few years, and is currently being waged with by the US Writer’s Guild, which has been on strike for just under a month now as it fights to get a cut of what broadcasters and film studios argue are non-existent residuals from digital media.