Lets get some things straight here. I spent many years working for a tv provider and have a lot of insight to how all of this works. Typically people are pointing fingers in the wrong direction.
TV networks are not giving free broadcast to providers, that shit is really expensive. The profit margin for tv providers is at an all time low on a per customer basis. Yes they can still have increased profits but this is from adding in new customers in mass and often other services (internet, phone, streaming etc).
These price increases are due to the networks jacking up their rates every 2-3 years when they have to renegotiate their contract with the provider. What option does the provider have, not pay and lose the channels? Then no one would subscribe. These price hikes we're talking about here are not 5% more than what was paid two years ago, most networks are looking in the range of 50% increases yet they provide the same content and typically more commercials. They don't just request more money but often other absurd requests. There is a particular sport network in California that has a hard time making deals with providers but is highly sought after. The problem with coming to a deal with them is that they are demanding that every single customer that provider has, needs to be paying for their station. Did you pick a package that has no sports because you don't like them? Sorry you have to pay for this one because they are dicks.
The worst offender here is local tv networks that broadcast over the air. They are the worst by far and have a lot of leverage due to things like the 1992 Cable Act that forces providers to have no choice in which local channels a customer receives. Do you live closer to major city A? Well the FCC has put you into the local channel market for major city B even though its 3x the distance from you, sorry about your luck. You can open a claim with the FCC and if there are enough complaints something may happen in the distant future. But because there is no choice for providers, local networks can hold their programming hostage. Their typical price increase every few years is 400% and when there are over 100 local channel markets across the country this adds up real fast when most markets have a dozen or more channels.
Last thing I want to point out here since I saw someone complaining about it is the religious and shopping channels. Their sole purpose is to make money from their broadcast, you are not paying for them unless you are buying from them or 'donating'. They actually pay tv providers for their air space and in turn help offset the cost of the shitty things other networks are doing.
Is this a shitty situation? Yep. Should we be mad about it? Absolutely, but lets make sure we're angry at the people that are actually responsible for it.
