A cable company now sells TV sets

Comcast wants to use its televisions to pitch its Peacock streaming service

Walmart is starting to sell television sets with the software guts of Comcast, the cable TV provider and owner of the Universal movie studio and TV networks including NBC.

These Comcast TVS may never be bestsellers. But they are interesting because of what they represent: a corporate land grab to become the starting point for all things streaming in Americans’ homes.

Comcast, Amazon, Roku and many other companies imagine that we might watch “Monday Night Football,” gawk at the latest Netflix costume drama and sit through a Youtube science video all through one of their TV sets or gadgets.

Selling the equipment is not the goal but a means to an end. Their objective is to make money from selling ads or by pointing people to watch “Halloween” on a streaming service that pays for the promotion. Comcast wants to use its TV sets to pitch its Peacock streaming service.

It is one of the highest-stakes battles in corporate America right now. There is power and money to be made for the companies that can persuade us to use their hardware as the starting spot for our virtual leisure time.

There is nothing necessarily odd or wrong with this.

Starting in the 1990s, Bill Gates wanted people to use Microsoft technology to watch TV programs as well as power their personal computers. Beginning in the 20th century, video boxes from Comcast or other cable providers were the gateway to TV and other home entertainment. Comcast in the 21st century has a similar idea. It is old TV in a new disguise.

I do not blame you if you just want to watch “Squid Game” on Netflix and not think too hard about dudes in suits trying to win the behind-the-scenes war for your TV screen. But it might be worth considering what we gain and lose from this streaming fracas.

Amazon Fire TV nudges people to buy online movies from Amazon and has prominent promotions from other streaming apps that pay Amazon to get right in front of your eyeballs. At times, Roku streaming devices have not included some entertainment apps including