Unfortunately, that's incorrect. The cable channels, as mentioned upthread, early on promised "since we can restrict access, unlike broadcast, we can just charg

Unfortunately, that's incorrect. The cable channels, as mentioned upthread, early on promised "since we can restrict access, unlike broadcast, we can just charge people and we won't show ads." That's not true in 2012. It is extremely, extremely rare to find television without frequent and intrusive advertising. HBO has less toxic advertising practices and better content, which is why you see them mentioned so often in this context. Basically, the main television networks are all double-dipping (cf Marco Arment: http://www.marco.org/2011/10/27/double-dipping-ads-in-ipad-magazines http://www.marco.org/2011/10/27/double-dipping-ads-in-ipad-m... ).