These benefits were priced modestly but as the quality and breadth of programming increased, prices rose. An average cable bill of $40/month in 1995 is $130 today[2]. Some of that revenue went into upgrading the capital equipment in use (the plant) and some into paying for the higher production values. Yet more went to the sports leagues and their players whose business models increasingly depended on broadcast rights.
Cable is very expensive. The problem is, content is not free. As cable fails and on-demand streaming content takes hold, almost everything you hated about cable will return. Commercials, previews, suggested shows you don’t care about, huge banners / tickers on the bottom of your screen and you’ll be paying for the privilege to be bombarded with crap you don’t care about.
There might be a day where we wish we were back in the days of cable…paying one price every month and using the DVR to fast forward commercials. Uninterruptible commercials are going to ruin streaming.
The only advantage to streaming over cable? the problem of 200 channels and nothing to watch is going away. Some people actually enjoy channel surfing and that’s going away which I fully support.