Explain to me something please: in the UK a customer cannot "cherry pick" cafeteria style the channels they wish to receive, but rather must buy a package filled with crap channels that no one wants?
Over here in the States it's a Federal law to offer packages which is clearly insane. However, it's a highly politically charged topic with one side wanting a free market & the other wanting Leftist propaganda paid for with your package fees.
However, as you stated many people here as well are doing an "end run" around that via Amazon Firesticks, etc., and perhaps even more with pirate ones.