Why Google and TiVo are facing off against Comcast and Hollywood

Third-party set-top boxes, with certain exceptions, can't get easy access to that live content. How to fix that is shaping up to be a big fight involving some of America's biggest companies, ranging from Google to Comcast. And the outcome could define how you watch your subscription channels for years to come. On one side, you have cable companies that want you to get your cable or satellite TV channels -- such as ESPN or HGTV -- through apps that they design and control. These apps would show up on your iPhone, Xbox One, Fire TV and other devices as coming from Comcast or Time Warner Cable, or whomever your pay-TV company happens to be. Cable operators say replicating the existing pay-TV experience on other devices this way is the only realistic method to honor the complicated rights contracts they have with film and TV creators.

For critics of the pay-TV industry, changing the marketplace is the whole point. These consumer advocates and companies want more freedom to create a world where the TV programming doesn't feel so tied to your cable company. Instead, they envision being able to plug different devices into your subscription and getting a different layout and interface every time. At the center of the fight is Hollywood, whose films and TV shows stand to be powerfully affected by the decisions that get made here. And it's warning that opening up pay-TV channels would be bad for business, and possibly even unconstitutional.