More than mere bedtime reading, TDG (The Diffusion Group) has a new report out entitled The Future of TV – A View from 2013. TDG are one of the noted market trenders, maybe even trendsetters, as they ply the connected consumer and the shift to quantum video access and consumption. Or rather, in easy English, they examine our industry’s dynamics and consumer behavior with an eye toward predicting their movement in the next 3-5 years.

As my colleagues and I bask in the glory of mobile digital TV, of late, making some significant growth and noise in the U.S., the findings in this report really do – fit. It’s a pretty straight-edged vision of how television will unfold, unravel, and yes, take over every inch of everything we do.

With everybody coining the phrase “TV everywhere” – have we paused for a second to define just where this ‘everywhere’ is? We know what TV is, but when we weren’t looking, somebody removed it from our living rooms and put it on device platforms, including smartphones, tablets, smart TVs, iSTBs, game consoles, Blu-ray players, and PCs. Those of us in the business – rejoiced.

TDG says “The future of TV is an app.” They really know their stuff. Anyone in the mobile broadcast TV business will tell you that apps are the big window to the even bigger world of mobile broadcast TV. Digital broadcast television is free and cleaner and sharper than ever before and it’s available to the masses. What could be more attractive than cutting the pay-cable cord, saving megabucks and tuning in to high-quality, free TV.

“Planet of the Apps” indeed. What we’re going to see are smartphones, tablets and Androids at the front of the line ushering millions of users into the app store. We used to stand there and gawk at all the products on our retailers’ shelves. But today, most of us, especially my young children, can pick (n’ choose) and download their own apps without needing my permission or my credit card.

Our mobile devices are revved up. We’ve got our icons all in a row… And our apps are primed for earth-moving, mind-blowing mobile TV. We’re all ready, but what about the TV industry? Are they “app’d” to go? I don’t foresee a struggle here. I see a peaceful transition but that the shift over to TV via app will have some implications for the TV industry. As has already happened in other non-TV video categories, standalone hardware devices and services will be put out to pasture by fast-growing ecosystems of devices, apps, and developers.

According to TDG, by 2020, the app ecosystem will extend to the net-connected devices that link to TV sets. Users will have unlimited choices for “App TV” but TV content providers will have to learn how to make great apps, not just great shows. Boy, am I in the fastest-changing business on the planet or what? Want the answer to that? Swipe your finger on the screen and you’ve hit gold.