I have a friend who got rid of cable and just kept high speed internet.
He discovered that he was recording everything he watched, anyway, and
watching it later and many times on his iPad. He dumped cable and buys
all his shows either a la carte on iTunes, or through cheap (or free)
subscription based sites like Hulu.com.

His television bill was cut down to 1/3 of his cable bill and that's on
a month when he watches a lot. The iPad is great for casual watching and
on the bus (traveling musician). When he wants to watch something "huge"
he hooks up the laptop or harddrive to his 60" with surround and gets
out the popcorn.

I wish the cable companies would charge via a la carte, pick-n-choose
channels. They already have the technology, so it's just something they
need to get around to doing. As more and more people do what my friends
is doing, they will see the market for it and offer it.
-MIKE-

I long for the a'la carte days of television. I have over 1300
channels and watch less than 20. Oh to be able to pick and choose.