I’m confused by what you mean by “era of consumer choice”. As it seems to me, if you want to watch a particular show the choice you have is to either pay for the particular service or not. The choice being either buy the product or don’t. Which isn’t exactly a meaningful choice by any stretch?

you can currently subscribe to a streaming service, binge watch everything you want, then cancel relatively easily these companies will work tirelessly to merge and make this less and less possible because Wall Street's demand for improved quarterly returns (at any cost) is utterly insatiable

Eg, if you like watching Star Wars shows your only available option is to pay for Disney+ and it’s the same with any major franchise.