As I understand it, very few cable channels started out ad-free, and that didn’t last long. By the time it was available in my area, cable TV was a service to

As I understand it, very few cable channels started out ad-free, and that didn’t last long. By the time it was available in my area, cable TV was a service to provide better reception and more channels that OTA, but everything aside from subscription channels like HBO were riddled with commercials. My point is that for most people in the U.S. there was never a bait and switch with cable. It was just more programming (ads). And you paid for it, unlike OTA.