MasterCard and Visa not only make money from each credit card transaction but to add insult to injury, they make money selling that transaction data as well! That's what I call a ludicrous business.
As a result, everything else that is moving media is surrounded by spam. Even if you pay 60 pound for a premium service (Think how much money it is, even if you have infinite money), you will spend 1/3 of that time watching Adverts.
It is like a Freemium Game Model but when you pay, it doesn't matter.
I have no idea why people are so careless with their time. Now that I ditched TV/Film, and found other ways to fill that time, I honestly feel better within myself. I twiddle around with robots while listening to the 20 hour audiobook (of your 90 minute film), or try to grow Carrots with some weird automated soil probe remotely at an Allotment.
Compared to the enjoyment I get from these time fillers, motion picture is honestly the lowest form of entertainment and the lest rewarding.
Other than those sorts of situations though, Visa/MC or the bank issuing the cards only know where the transaction occurred and how much it was and don't directly get SKU-level data on what was purchased barring some other sort of partnership with the merchant.
http://www.businesswire.com/news/home/20160517006038/en/Viac...
They used to have a "Business Intelligence Group" which acted as a Consulting firm to corporations who want to answer questions like "Where should my company set up more stores?" The group often sifted through their customer data to answer that question.