Subscription OTA networks like Wometco, SelecTV, Z Channel and ONTV died in the 1980s because they faced direct competition from HBO and Showtime once cable became widely available in major cities. HBO vs the FCC also helped their demise as it overturned the anti-siphoning law that prevented cable channels from signing exclusive deals for movie libraries and sporting events.
Also, I highly doubt there was any widespread demand for those stations to drop subscription OTA as in most cases they previously carried content no one was watching and were on the verge of folding before the subscription networks gave them a lifeline. i.e. before Wometco Home Theater launched in NYC, what was WBTB/68 already suspended operations for a few months and the only show people cared about was Uncle Floyd, which still aired unencrypted on WWHT until it found a new home at WNBC and NJN, the rest of the pre-Wometco content was stuff that NYC's 3 VHF independents passed on, and after Wometco shutdown it quickly became a HSN O&O.
Stations are still allowed to carry encrypted subscription OTA services, but that's nothing to panic over as each time one was attempted, the free market led to them failing. Like USDTV out west in the 2000s, AirBox on most Ion stations in the 2010s, and most recently Evoca on ATSC 3.0 LPTV signals in Boise and Phoenix.
Hopefully the legitimate concerns about DRM people are submitting involving DVR restrictions, being able to get emergency severe weather information via a converter box without an internet connection, or the A3SA taking forever to approve support for external tuners, isn't drowned out by comments from people incorrectly conflating DRM encryption with conditional access encryption for subscription content or "what if" scenarios that FCC rules already forbid. i.e. under the current rules stations that use DRM cannot charge viewers to decrypt them or require a broadcaster supplied decoder box, so any comments to the FCC falsely claiming that you need to pay stations to view DRM content will be dismissed.