Can't speak for cable giants, such as Comcast, but I can tell you Mediacom is no longer Mediacrap.
Yes, they don't have the sports networks -- NHL, MLB and NBA -- like most cablecos, and they don't have those sports' watch-every-game packages and the out-of-market sports packs, like the satcos, and they don't have all the NBC Sports Live Extra channels, and the UEFA spillover channels, as DirecTV does. But they have most everything else, including the same channels I was getting with DirecTV, plus whole-home HD with TiVO on three TVs. And the kicker: for about what I was paying for DirecTV alone I'm now getting TV, Internet and phone.
When I told the good folks at DirecTV why I was canceling after seven years, the best they could do was remove Sports Pack, take me down a notch in the programming tier, offer me premium channels free for three months, and tack on a $10 discount. Which would have still left me paying $40 more than I pay now -- and receiving fewer channels.
It seems the worm has turned, and now it's the satellite providers who are playing catchup.