I had Dish. I'd call every couple of months (when the latest promotion ended) and complain that it's too much money for what we watch. We are not a "Sports" family and I don't like paying for 12 ESPN/MLB (or whatever) channels. Add in all the "Christian" Channels that we don't watch (I go to my church and don't usually care to watch my church on TV), and the Home shopping channels... We end up only watching about 15 channels.
Unfortunately the 15 channels (or so) that we watch are spread across their packages, such that to get them we have to get the higher package.
So after many years of complaining and threatening to leave, I finally cut the cord. (The last 6 months was Top 200 for about $35.00/month for 4 receivers, no DVR, no Premium channels). They were going to jump my cost to $80/month (still discounted) and ultimately it was going up to over $100. I told them I wasn't willing to pay more than $40/month but the best they could do is get it down to just under $50.
So now, I am done. I have to pay another $20 to return their equipment, but I am okay with that. With Smart TV's, netflix account,
Amazon Prime, Kodi and HD Antenna... I am good.
My HD Antenna gets a LOT of channels. I get ABC, CBS, NBS, PBS, Fox (with the local networks), many of which have -1, -2, -3 channels (eg, we have a local channel that is on 16 but it's 16-1. Plus they have 16-2 and 16-3 with additional programming). I get some Daystar (satellite) channels which seem to be mostly "Christian" channels, I even get QVC and HSN. Plus some others like Qubo, Comet, ION. All in all I get about 40 channels on the antenna.
I find that me personally, will watch even less TV, and that's not a bad thing. I get more work done. Even the kids aren't too upset (yet) but time will tell.
As a final note, I find it interesting, that this trend is going to get worse for the cable providers. Unless they start offering programming that people really want. I am not a sports person so I feel like I am getting screwed when I have to pay more (even top dollar) to have these channels that I don't watch. So ESPN is going to start (or continue) to struggle.
http://www.teamspeedkills.com/2016/...indicates-espn-wont-like-a-cord-cutting-world