archiguy - in my instance cable charges $8/month per box and $5/month per DVR. So two DVRs will run me $26/month in hardware costs as opposed to $5/month from DirecTV. Now I am talking about me, as my DVR fee is waived for carrying TCP and I have two in the first place. So that is a $21 savings per month just in hardware, or $252/year... To top it off, comparable channels from TWC will cost me $8 more per month. $29/month or $308/year...
Now granted that is still almost three years to pay off each HD Tivo, but that is also taking into account that I will probably be able to upgrade my recording capacity of the Tivo, season passes, wishlists, OTA HD (reducing my D* bill by another $3/month), etc...
People keep acting like it is cable against DirecTV and Echostar.. the thing most people seem to forget is that TWC NYC is different from TWC Chicago, TWC Milwaukee, TWC Orlando, Comcast Seattle, Comcast LA.. etc.. (I don't know if any of those exist, just trying to make a point).
So is a particular regional deal a satellite killer? Possibly, but just because your region is offering those features and pricing, don't think for an instance that they are or will be offered anywhere else in the country.
Which has actually always been one of the comforts with satellite.. No matter where I've moved to, I always knew exactly what pay-tv service I would be dealing with.