With a Media Center PC connected to a flat screen TV with surround speakers, all you need is uTorrent, piratebay and eztv.it

For news, you won't have CNN live but you can open a browser and go to the CNN website and get all the news faster. This is why I think Skycable will eventually go bankrupt.
Yesterday I downloaded Walking Dead and South Park in High Definition. Looks great on my TV and didn't cost me anything =)
The only downside to choosing and downloading stuff by yourself is you don't get exposed to shows that you might have liked but didn't know about. You have to research the new shows by yourself and download them to see if you're going to like them.