Not that I'm necessarily defending cable companies, but sub fees keep going up and up. Those charges have to come from somewhere. Local TV stations in mid to larger markets keep getting closer to the magic $2.00 per sub.
Take a market like Los Angeles; in spite of the population density, every cable subscriber is going to see an increase in their bill from local stations adding all these 'dot-2' channels like Grit, Antenna, and other classic TV networks to the local market, let alone the big four network affiliates constantly renegotiating their retrans agreements with the cable folks. Then add in the race to have the better Internet connections?
No wonder cable TV as a business, has such poor operating margins.