In general, cable TV companies have less market power today than in the 1980s. Normally, firms have market power due to a lack of competition since consumers will be less likely to switch to products of competitors in response to a price hike. While cable television providers had very little competition in the 1980s, that is no longer the case with streaming services such as Sling TV and YouTube TV taking up a larger and larger part of the market. Because of this, cable TV providers need to compete on price more than they used to.