Content battle could change how Americans watch TV

Washington

IT'S a familiar tradeoff to anyone who has tried cutting the cord: While streaming services such as Netflix and Hulu often deliver access to on-demand video anytime and on screens of any size, traditional cable channels are largely locked to a home set-top box - that clunky rectangular device that costs hundreds of dollars to rent from a cable company every year.

Third-party set-top boxes from companies such as TiVO or Fire TV from Amazon haven't been able to get easy access to cable content. But now, a major push to change that is sparking a policy fight in Washington involving some of America's biggest companies, including Google and Comcast. The outcome could define how Americans watch television shows for years to come.