To be honest, there's only one show I watch weekly and that's Survivor. I don't watch it for it's riveting content, but more out of an almost religious Thursday night observance. If it wouldn't be for my tenants, I wouldn't even have cable (Survivor is broadcast over UHF for free).
That's not to say that I don't watch shows. If I ever want a quick dose of comedy, science, action, or news, I'll go on to Google Video or YouTube and watch programs like Robot Chicken. If there's a TV show that's supposed to be amazing, I may bittorrent it.
What are your viewing habits? Are you paying hundreds of dollars a year for a few hours of TV each month? Several networks offer shows for fee-to-download. iTunes offers TV shows for $1.99 per show. If you use Windows Media Edition, or have a video-out on your computer, you can play these on your TV in HD quality. It’s better to spend $10 a month on the show you watch than $30 for cable that you only use for this show.
Although legally questionable, bittorrent is another way to download almost any TV show aired. For example, Googling “survivor torrent” will bring up links to websites to download the latest episode. The video isn’t downloaded from a single site, but from up to hundreds of other people who have downloaded the file.
Making an inventory of all of your TV entertainment expenses make yield new ways for you to cut things that you don’t bring you value.
UPDATE:
Winamp also offers a free service called Shoutcast that lets you watch channels. It gives you a much more television-like experience.
