Fun anecdote: Both my home town (Pop. 6,000, central Illinois) as well as my work town (Urbana, IL; Pop. 41,000) have actually had recent success using this line of reasoning. In both cases the cities were looking for improvements in the public access facilities provided by their respective cable providers (Mediacom/Comcast). Urbana had a slightly longer fight, but in the end, both cable companies caved.

It was Urbana's fight in which I came to understand the power of that one bargaining chip and that cable contract negotiations really are weighted in favor of the municipality.