Prime Time 2011: Mobile platforms are changing TV viewing but funding challenges hurt

By Perry Hoffman

OTTAWA - The jury is still out on whether the iPad and other tablet devices will irreversibly alter the current Canadian broadcasting environment, but there are signs, even within the seven months since Apple’s iPad was introduced in Canada, that mobile video viewing habits are beginning to transform.According to research done by CBC/Radio-Canada, a healthy chunk of Canadians are already using devices that allow for time shifting, including 4% who watch TV from a playback device like a DVR. As well, 3% of Canadians already have an iPad, the research indicates. Mark Allen, director of strategic analysis in CBC’s research...