They do flex their muscle, they just don’t flex it the way you want. In the end the public considers it the cable company’s job to get them the networks, and they don’t want that service interrupted. Which is why the cable companies always lose the arguments with the network, because the people join the networks’ side.
Cities do not own the cable franchises, they ALLOW the cable monopoly. Very big difference. But in the end the city has no power in that either, if they kicked out cable company X then the cable company would remind them who owns all that cable, and they don’t intend to be selling it to whatever new cable company the city chooses to allow, which means no other cable company is moving in, which means the city won’t be kicking out company X.
You’re mistaken about ownership and who’s got the power — as the cable companies want you to be. It doesn’t matter who owns the copper cable — the only unique priceless irreplaceable asset is the TUNNEL UNDER YOUR STREET. The right-of-way. You can own fiber optic cable that stretches to the moon — but if the city gives the franchise to someone else, you can’t sell your product in that market.
People think cable is a free market — it isn’t. It’s a quasi public utility. You can have five hot dog carts competing on one street — you can’t have five cable companies digging trenches.
Cities are cable company landlords. One huge market acting like the owners that they are instead of whiny babies begging to see the game could turn distribution into the buyer’s market it should be.