Comcast

It's getting pretty crowded in the streaming space. Comcast is the latest company to throw its hat into the digital ring: It will offer existing cable subscribers access to streaming TV shows and movies through a new service called Streampix. And other streaming services, from Netflix to YouTube, are offering original content.

Verizon and Coinstar are joining forces in a new Internet streaming video venture built around Redbox's DVD-rental kiosks. Details are sketchy so far, but it will bundle streaming and DVDs, and it'll probably cost less than dominant player Netflix's service.

Comcast just signed a major new deal with Disney that will give subscribers to the country's largest cable provider access to a ton of content across a range of devices -- not just TVs. Of course, those customers are sure to end up paying for it in higher cable bills.

The Walt Disney Co. said Wednesday that it reached a long-term agreement with the nation's largest TV signal provider, Comcast Corp., that extends their partnership into the next decade. The deal covers major pay channels ESPN, Disney Channel and ABC Family and the retransmission of free ABC broadcast network programs through seven ABC TV stations. It allows Comcast subscribers to gain greater access to shows on demand over the Internet on multiple devices.

Forget the screen pass. When Super Bowl XLVI rolls around in February, you may find yourself calling an audible for a stream pass instead. The NFL is making its biggest game available as a legal stream for the first time ever.

Even though your cable, satellite, or broadband television provider may be despised for completely legitimate reasons, when it comes to your ever-rising bill, the providers are mostly just passing along the scaling programming costs of networks. As The New York Times reports, "American television subscribers pay, on average, about $100 a year for sports programming %u2014 no matter how many games they watch."

The next time you find yourself bellyaching over your expanding monthly cable bill, don't blame your provider. Blame ESPN, the biggest offender when it comes to basic cable, setting distributors back $4.69 a month for every subscriber.