i cut the cable back in 2013 when my dh had his 1st stroke & i was out of work. we already had been paying for Netflix but bought a Roku & that was the end of paying for Direct TV & cable. now i get unyielding mail asking us to come back. NOPE! ain't going there again if i can help it!
i do remember when we had a big floor tv that was more like furniture than they are a part of the wall today. had a box for the cable on the top that you had to push in buttons to get the next channel. mostly Boston or up in Portland, ME were where the channels came from. UNH has the PBS station so grew up watching a lot of that.