Living in the Bay Area, I don’t lack for friends who have shed their addiction to the anesthetizing effects of the Boob Tube by canceling cable. 
I read here that 18th century London saw a gin craze amongst poor industrial workers. To numb themselves from the unfamiliar work, terrible living conditions and limited entertainment, they drank themselves into oblivion.
I don’t drink myself into oblivion, but I do watch WAY too much TV. I think TV is my gin.
Since most shows can be purchased on iTunes, the only reason for us to buy cable is for the news (we are computer nerds and not so much into sports).
Outside of Rachel Maddow, Jon Stewart and Steven Colbert the news is a bunch of spoon fed drivel (and yes, I realize those last two aren’t technically “news” shows but they have the balls to ask genuinely hard interview questions, in other words, to do their job).
Most dramas run their course after 1-2 seasons (I love Glee, but does anyone think it will have genuine legs after this next season? Where can the plot go but in circles?)
So, we too are considering dumping cable and buying only the handful of shows we actually watch (because going cold turkey is just WAY too scary!).
Will we miss it? The local news is rarely upbeat. The world news is a joke.
For a while, we probably will. But in the long run, I think we will read more good books, eat dinner as a family more often, maybe go to bed a little earlier, and of course feel just a little smugger. We live in the Bay. What do you expect? 🙂