So the issue here is that there are people who pay for cable (C), and people who don't pay for cable (!C). There are also people who would, all things being eq

So the issue here is that there are people who pay for cable (C), and people who don't pay for cable (!C). There are also people who would, all things being equal, pay for HBO (H), and people who would not (!H). It sounds like he is saying that C ∩ H is larger and/or more profitable than !C ∩ H, at least for now. And that catering to the latter would cannibalize more than it is worth. That is probably true, if short-sighted. I wonder how hard it would be to undercut them and go for the small, but possibly growing !C market. I'm guessing pretty hard.