[pinkandgreenmom]

I used to be an attorney representing some of the big cable companies. The content providers (like ESPN) dictate the costs and terms of carriage. For example, ESPN used to require the cable companies to: (1) carry ESPN on the basic tier (so if you ordered cable, ESPN had to be included); (2) carry all other ESPN channels they currently offered or would ever create; and (3) required the channels to be next to each other in the cable lineup. This was 10-15 years ago, but the cable companies pretty much were at the mercy of ESPN and those creating the content.

[oh8eleven]

The content providers (like ESPN) dictate the costs and terms of carriage.
I totally understand that, but the content providers (like ESPN), and cable companies, damn well better wake up.
Subscribers are leaving by the millions and in the not too distant future, there won't be anyone left to screw over.