The Battle for the Living Room

[Commentary] First, it was for the little screens. Now, it's for the big ones. In living rooms across America, an epic clash is looming for the hearts, minds and eyeballs of US consumers as major device platform providers, as well as cable companies and telecommunications carriers, again try to reinvent the big-screen television viewing experience. While smart TVs, streaming boxes and gaming consoles have attempted to alter our viewing habits, most people continue to get their TV content the same way they always have -- through cable or satellite providers.

Now, however, the environment around TV viewing has begun to shift because of one profoundly important development: the growing popularity of over-the-top (OTT) video services, such as Netflix, Hulu, HBO Now, YouTube and others like them. The stakes for this living room battle are huge. Not only do we all spend a lot of time viewing TV and video, we spend a lot of money to access this content as well. So sit back and grab some popcorn, because seeing how all these companies maneuver their businesses to tap into this new opportunity is going to be a fun show to watch.

[Bob O'Donnell is founder and chief analyst of TECHnalysis Research]