We're not talking about broadband here, we're talking about cable TV. Cable TV isn't that much of a free market, admittedly, but it does have competition: sate

We're not talking about broadband here, we're talking about cable TV. Cable TV isn't that much of a free market, admittedly, but it does have competition: satellite TV (Dish, DirecTV) and internet programming (Hulu etc.). But most importantly to my argument, cable TV (unlike broadband internet) is purely a luxury. You don't need to watch TV, and countless people do just fine without it, even in societies where it's commonplace, and in fact lots of news articles are discussing people who are voluntarily giving it up ("cutting the cord") because they're spending their free time with other pursuits such as internet usage.