For decades, the television was the flagship of any consumer-electronics product line-up.

In all the gadgets in the home,【M1】______ the TV held the most prominent real estate in the living room, cost the most to buy, and carry the biggest brand mark. And for【M2】______ consumer-electronics makers who manufactured them, selling TVs was a good business. As the bulky cathode-ray tube televisions of the past turned into the sleek, flat-screen televisions of today, another shift started to occur. The price competition was merciful and unrelenting since【M3】______ the televisions were hard to differentiate. Even so consumers were【M4】______ buying more televisions than ever, TV makers struggled to turn a profit. Now, another shift is taking place, and it is threatening to rob televisions their prominence—and value—in the home. With【M5】______ more people streaming or downloading video as an alternation to【M6】______ cable or satellite broadcast, more consumers are watching TV shows and movies on smartphones, tablets and laptops. The television, meanwhile, may become just another screen. "Thats a very real possibility," says Paul Gagnon, the director of North 【M8】______ American TV research for DisplaySearch, a market-research firm based in Santa Clara, Calif. When televisions end up becoming【M8】______ just another monitor, he says, " that is a low-profit, no-money business with just a handful of players." To stay ahead of changing viewing habits, television makers are pushing Web-connected televisions loading with applications.【M9】______ Web TVs count for about a quarter of all new flat-panel televisions【M10】______ this year, rising to about half of all shipments in three years, according to DisplaySearch.

【M1】