Since most “cable” channels were just rebroadcast over the air channels early on, there was no reason to expect that there were going to be fewer ads. In fact,

Since most “cable” channels were just rebroadcast over the air channels early on, there was no reason to expect that there were going to be fewer ads. In fact, in the 80s, there was a lot more infomercials on cable TV than today. The only reason there were fewer ads was because cable channels were still trying to get companies to advertise.