I do think that today with the ultimate transition to ip based delivery these current negotiate are more about who gets the content. at&t Com cast Disney etc.
Every major party is seeking content. Local channels that are offered free with satellite providers are important.
As I wrote above, the movie studios were forced to divest from theater ownership because it was anti-competitive - independent film producers could not get their films shown in the theaters. It did not harm the industry one bit.
The same should apply here. People who own the cable should not also own the content. It is a huge anti-competitive feature. Congress gave regional monopolies to the cable companies decades ago, to allow them to recoup the cost of infrastructure roll-out. And in the intervening years (with lots of abuse e.g. Adelphia) eventually these regions all rolled-up into larger and larger entities to where now ATT, merged with Comcast, controls the cable in nearly every major market. They decide which channels are ‘worthy’, including the news, and which ones not to air. They are competing with others and give themselves and their content preferential treatment and block competition. CNN is the perfect example. Sure there is some token competition but only token and they are also legacy e.g. FOXNEWS and MSNBC have both been around decades too. Imagine trying to launch a news channel now (a few have tried, mostly on the internet) but the cost of getting onto the cable box is enormous.