Wow. It really stinks to be customer today of any service. None of them really have "all" that you are looking for(especially with regards to price). So you try to find the "cheapest" solution, I guess.
I have TWC(Time Warner Cable), and have the free HD(not really, need the box for HD on the cable channels. OTA channels are free/Clear QAM though), but no NFL Network come fall. They are still in a dispute. But they do have the MLB network, which looks like a nice addition(plus VS.), all for $63/month.
So therefore I have to supplement using a Dish NOW!/YA! DP301 receiver connected to a Dish 500 come late fall/early winter for the NFL Network(unless TWC comes to an agreement, which I doubt. I am on TWC's side of this whole thing by the way) games on Thursday/Saturday.
Sign up for 1 day of Classic Silver($1.60/per day), and watch the game, and then it shuts off. Granted, it is not in HD, but this works just fine.
Do the same thing with shows/movies that may be on HBO/Showtime/Cinemax/etc... Instead of signing up for a full month, do it day by day(at like $.57 cents/day at the most for HBO), and watch the new episodes.
But I especially will do that for boxing on Showtime, and HBO. I will keep doing that as long as I can.
But it kinda stinks that I have to go to those lengths just to "watch" something. But, i guess I am willing at this point, for now.
I just got NetFlix streaming on my Samsung 2500 Blu-Ray Player, and I have got to tell you, just like TIVO of a number of years ago, i asked myself "How in the hell did I live without this."
Both TWC and The Dish NOW! setup(sold on EBay most likely), may be in serious trouble for a downgrade by me with this new NetFlix Streaming continues to grow.
Good luck to all.