...rural locations which were never wired for cable because they all just got satellite dishes This has reversed the actual cause and effect. Zero rural custom

...rural locations which were never wired for cable because they all just got satellite dishes This has reversed the actual cause and effect. Zero rural customers are served by cable. Some rural customers have satellite dishes. There are numerous reasons why cablecos don't serve rural areas. The obvious reason is the expense that would be required to run a mile of copper for each customer. Less obvious reasons include the fact that if there is no municipal apparatus to target for corruption, the cableco business model sort of falls apart... You don't even have to visit a rural area to see this. There are lots of satellite customers in cities and that fact hasn't chased off the cablecos.