Here&#x27;s another explanation: every year the TV audience gets older [1]. Advertisers notoriously chase the coveted 18-49 demographic. Younger viewers are increasingly not watching traditional TV.<p>So, you can view Time Warner&#x27;s move to cut ads in prime time as simply a way of raising prices by reducing supply (inventory).<p>As for cable companies shoving TV packages down customers throats, well that&#x27;s easy to explain. The bargaining power a cable company has with media companies is directly proportional to how many TV subscribers they have. So every Internet-only customer a cable company has marginally raises the per-customer cost of TV.<p>This is also why Comcast wanted to merge with Time Warner. It&#x27;s simply about reducing TV costs.<p>This business model really has to die.<p>[1]: <a href="https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.washingtonpost.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;business&#x2F;wp&#x2F;2014&#x2F;09&#x2F;05&#x2F;tv-is-increasingly-for-old-people&#x2F;" rel="nofollow">https:&#x2F;&#x2F;www.washingtonpost.com&#x2F;news&#x2F;business&#x2F;wp&#x2F;2014&#x2F;09&#x2F;05&#x2F;t...</a>