Wrong. If the cost of service goes up subscribers will go back to cable. Competition, remember?
Ain't no cable systems out where he wants to keep the monopoly. It's true they can go back to the regulated cable systems in municipalities, but not out in the rural areas where he made most of his initial sales (back when he was selling C-band antennas in the early '80s, and later on when he started Echostar [DISH network] selling Ku band antennas).
I suspect that there's a political component to this: Bush doesn't want to have his rural constituents bitter about high priced satellite TV. So, Charlie doesn't get his buyout deal...