Some low-power television stations, often affiliated with The WB and UPN, could only air their programming on a cable system through the purchase of leased access time, as they were not covered by the FCC's must-carry regulations to require their stations to be carried; often this came with no built-in promotion by a cable system which often regarded their other programming as sub-standard as the reason for traditional carriage refusal, or any call out of the programming carried in their channel lineups (where they were listed only as 'paid' or 'leased access' and with no program listings), meaning the station would have to find alternate means to promote their cable carriage.
The prices for leased access are subject to a maximum set by an FCC formula and therefore in theory cannot be manipulated by cable companies.
Lower prices would encourage increased usage of leased access by independent programmers.
In practice, this has meant in markets without a need for leased access and whose needs can be fulfilled by public, educational, and government access/PEG or public-access television channels (which provide their facilities at no to minimum cost), a channel's time is usually bought out en masse by networks and entities who only air shopping channels, paid programming or televangelism on a full-time basis, often merely carrying a national network feed with no local deviation, though still having no guide listings provided unless so paid for by the network, allowing a provider to profit off a steadier source of revenue than from disparate programmers and producers.
This type of programming direction has only increased as the former purchasers of leased access have moved on to more reasonable online video options, with both better promotional opportunities and none of the issues, complications, and regulations which have long saddled leased access channels and time slots.