> You pay for cable TV but they sell you to advertisers. That's not quite right. You pay your cable provider for television service. The cable provider pays n

> You pay for cable TV but they sell you to advertisers. That's not quite right. You pay your cable provider for television service. The cable provider pays networks for their content (the networks are the "suppliers" in this case). Some of those networks also collect payment from advertisers, but that advertising revenue probably wouldn't go to the cable company.