Think the OP is right on this one actually. If you're struggling financially, this is functionally equivilent to criminalising poverty regardless of the steps involved. It's also frankly bullshit that a corporation can charge a toll for all live television broadcasts in a country even when it has no bearing on their own content.
Simple solution:
Put all of their shite behind an id system and charge a fee for that. Don't monopolise fucking live tv as if it runs off the stored farts of Jimmy Saville.