MOST of our content is ripped from DVD (and recently Blu Ray). The only shows that we are downloading for purchase now are new shows as they come out- and it still is ending up cheaper than we were paying for satellite to do it that way. I figure that we may not get to play this content in 20 years- but with cable/satellite we wouldn't be able to anyway. At least this way we get to play the content multiple times for the next few years.

The real value we've found is purchasing older TV shows used on DVDs- you can get entire seasons of Family Guy, King of the Hill, Buffy, Friends, etc. on DVD for ~$10 including shipping if you buy used.