You shouldn't need cable service to connect a DVD player to your TV. How have you attempted to connect the DVD player to the TV? Usually a DVD player is connected via an HDMI cable or composite or component cables.
Composite cables have ends that are red, white and yellow. Red and white are the audio connections and yellow is the video connection.
Component cables are red, blue and green and all three are video connections. You would need a separate cable for the audio.
A HDMI cable carries both the audio and video signals.
How you connect depends on the connections available on the back of the DVD player and the connections on the back of the TV.
YouTube video showing how to connect with component cables:
https/www.youtube.com/watch?v=8pARHjY8xoo