Although radio and television have been around for decades, it was all free-to-air until quite recently, many stations basically being advertising services, especially if commercials interrupt programmes. Subscription only radio, in particular, even came after the internet, and hasn't been that successful as far as I know.
The idea is to imagine subscription only broadcasting (both radio and TV) having started decades before the internet, in an age when vacuum tubes dominated. Also, suppose that cable TV had begun at the same time as, or not long after free-to-air, with fewer free-to-air channels, and more bandwidth per TV channel.
When (free-to-air) television was introduced, movies studios criticised for possibly drawing people away form the cinema. Might they have thought differently had pay TV begun earlier, and broadcast of movies been largely confined to that TV sector?