Cable providers have unskippable ads on their own "on demand" platforms. I'm sure they track everything you do on their apps and their (often required for no technical reason) cable boxes. The only reason they didn't participate more in surveillance capitalism is that they didn't have the technical chops. They tried -- and are still trying -- their best to strangle broadband with needless data caps and anticompetitive agreements with alternative ISPs.

Cable companies were also rabidly anti-dvr as anyone who had a tivo can attest to. I'm glad you like your cable provider or whatever, but cable companies suck in the US.