Newspapers are dying because they lost the advertising. Subscriptions haven't paid the full load for a long time. Since advertising is based on readership, they'll make just about any deal to get you to agree to keep taking it.

I'd never thought of cable TV the same way, but it's true. If they make more money from the ads they sell than from their subscribers, that would explain why the cost of an internet + TV bundle is about $5 more than just the internet. They want you to take the TV so they can push ads at you.