Cable companies actually pay for the privilege of providing many of the channels in even the basic bundles? So the basic bundle cost depends, in part, on which channels with significant per subscriber fees they include? We're basically at the whim of the outcomes of negotiations between monopolies (your cable provider) and pseudo-monopolies (firms with big channel portfolios).
Lots of people like ESPN. Many don't. It's a typical part of a cable channel bundle. It's expensive.
