At this point they've gotten plenty of money from those filters, and they should be replacing them instead of doing their best to pretend upload doesn't exist.
It's a disadvantage vs. somehow knowing the future, but in the absence of future-knowing I bet they still made more money by deploying earlier.
On the other hand a cable tv incumbent in a given metro area has a huge first mover advantage of having established the right-of-way in various places (aerial pole to pole, underground duct, etc). And is usually treated by the local government as a default utility service same as water and power so they can build whatever they want almost anywhere they want, anytime they want.
It's a disadvantage vs. somehow knowing the future, but in the absence of future-knowing I bet they still made more money by deploying earlier.
First mover tradeoffs.