[Jeffhs]

Time Warner Cable is all-digital these days, but the lowest tier of service above bare-bones basic (broadcast channels only), referred to by TW as expanded basic or, as I call it, x-basic, providing about 70 channels, is still available without a cable box. However, some formerly analog channels such as ShopNBC, Travel Channel, National Geographic Channel, et al. have been moved to one of the digital tiers and are no longer available on x-basic cable.

It's all about the money -- TW is interested in that high rental fee for cable boxes (and, I swear, it is going higher every time I turn around). This fee is now, IIRC, $10 a month over and above the cable bill itself, and that's for just one box on one TV.

If you have more than one set, each requiring a box, the fees can add up in a hurry. Don't get me started on cable fees if you have digital cable, the required box, and one or more movie channels. In this case, I think it would be cheaper to drop those high-priced movie channels and get a subscription to Netflix or some other DVD rental service (Blockbuster, Redbox, et al), or even drop the cable altogether and get a streaming video box. Of course, even without the movie channels, digital cable is still very expensive; I canceled my service and went back to x-basic when Time Warner's digital cable rates reached $55 a month. I never looked back.