Streaming ‘Disputes’ Show How Consumers Risk Content ‘Limitations’: CRS

It's “unclear” how streaming competition affects consumers, reported the Congressional Research Service Friday. “Consumers may benefit from the increasing number of companies” offering services, it said. But “recent disputes,” like the impasse that kept Peacock off the Roku platform until Sept. 21 (see 2009210024), “illustrate that consumers may face limitations on the content they are able to access, depending on the services available on the digital media players and the licensing agreements,” it said. Roku and Amazon Fire TV subscribers still can’t access HBO Max. “The disputes illustrate that companies participating in multiple markets may compete by controlling access to content in addition to pricing.”