I started a new poll about how much money people spend on TV--cable, verizon FiOS, or satelite. Personally, I am continually frustrated by how expensive and complicated cable TV has become. We went for several months with no cable, but our location makes reception difficult so the HD stations were constantly pixelated and unwatchable even though the signals were strong. (Note: if you don't have reception problems, you can receive digital high-definition TV for free with an ordinary antenna and an HD-tuner television--no need to pay for HDTV.)

It seems the only options are to go with a ultra-minimal service that Comcast and Verizon will not advertise very prominantly, or plunk down something like $50/month on the off chance you might stumble across something interesting once in awhile. And if you have multiple televisions, pretty soon you find yourself renting multiple boxes, etc.

Things are made more confusing by the bundling...so you may pay $99/month for phone+cable+internet... However, in my case, we don't have phone service or need it as my wife and I both have cell phones. For internet, we were one of the first customers to sign up for the blazingly fast FiOS internet--before TV was available. Then we ended up with Comcast and a Tivo box just before FiOS TV was finally available.

I think paying more than $50/month on TV is too much. I remember when expanded basic was something like $20/month. For some years we had no cable at all, subscribing to Netflix and just watching movies. But we have found Noggin useful, if not necessary, with our 3 kids.