I finally got fed up with continually rising cable TV bills for services that didn't fit my needs. I cut the cable and now use the internet service for everything.
Getting a 43" TCL Roku TV to replace an old Sony 36" WEGA CRT TV was a first step. Getting Netflix was another step.
The TV has both wired ethernet and Wifi inputs. So far, WiFi has worked fine. The TV also has a DLNA player function that can be used to play videos from our NAS or to play music.
No extra boxes! And no commercials! And I get to choose what I watch and when. By far the best acquisition of this year.
The expensive cable box thing was part of my aims. But, I went even far beyond that. First, I decided decades ago to integrate my best TV watching with my best sound system. So, that was part of my stereo since 1991. Loved it for critical watching, but the less exalted bedroom system was ok too, with sound not as good.
In 2007, I finally went hi rez, and I decided to add 7.1 audio. Loved it, and it changed my music listening too.
Then, about 3 years ago, I decided to go with a HTPC. A PC replaced a separate player, a preamp/processor, and my cable box. I used JRiver software in conjunction with a Silicon Dust HD Homerun Prime tuner to replace the cable box. It uses a Fios Cablecard (for a small monthly rental) and attaches to my cable feed and to the PC via Ethernet. Tuning is done in JRiver, and all channels can be viewed or recorded via JRiver. The give ups are no On Demand, and no Netflix. But, meanwhile, all TV comes though my main audio system, Dirac Live, etc.
Quality is awesome, and the cable box is gone. But, there are a lot of gotchas. Netflix can't be viewed because they are touchy about the PC environment and their PC client will not integrate properly with JRiver. I have not tried other PC clients for other video streaming services. But, I am still happy with my choice.