> In the old days, people paid for cable TV so they could avoid ads. Now you pay for cable and get ads too.

Cable TV was invented to distribute tv to areas where antenna reception was not possible. It was just regular channels rebroadcast with the same commercials. Superstaions emerged like TBS that were once local channels but now became regional and then national cable channels. Still with commercials. Premium channels like HBO and showtime were the only commercial free stations and you paid extra for them.