You're paying for the delivery, not the content. Well, if it is a cable channel, then you are also paying partly for the content, as the cable or dish provider must pay the channel owner a certain amount per subscriber. But for broadcast network channels, you're only paying for the delivery. Eyeballs viewing the commercials pays for the content.
Without ads, you'd pay much, much more. Look at the premium you must pay for HBO or Cinemax vs. ESPN.
It started that way, but, now Dish, Direct, Comcast and everyone ends up paying even for those channels. There have been many disputes over those payments where companies took all the broadcast network channels they own off one system or another until settled.
True....BUT, the original broadcast goes out with the ads intact. It's the ability to skip them during recorded playbacks that seems to be the issue. How many folks record shows just to be able to avoid the ads? I can't see a huge number of people purposely recording shows to play them back at a later time with that as a specific goal - usually they record to either not miss it because they aren't there for the original broadcast ot to save it.
Actually you pay more for ESPN than for HBO, it’s just indirectly. ESPN charges your cable company at least $25 per subscriber in the appropriate tier (which is usually the lowest tier) which of course gets passed on to you, I can get HBO for $15. ESPN is owned by The Mouse, The Mouse always wins.