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I'm actually surprised analog cable stayed around as long as it did for you guys. The only analog cable system here (Optusvision) shut down long before over the air analog. Their competitor (Foxtel) was digital from the start, though the exact system (and boxes) have changed a couple of times over the years.
Plugging a TV straight into the cable was never a thing here - at least not for most people. I had Optusvision on and off for a few years as adding and later removing TV from your package was a way to extend your contract and grandfather you into the "good" internet package that was withdrawn. Without the box all you'd get was a couple of random channels that were in the clear that week/day/hour, a couple of channels that showed test patterns and in the later days an "Unauthorised receiver" message.
Towards the end of the service they were using very frequent channel map updates and bad map updates in an effort to take out modified boxes, but by this point it was futile. Anyone running such a box had resorted to a default all channels map and disabled updates coming over the cable.
I had Foxtel up until recently - their box fees make yours sound reasonable. One box included with the package regardless of tier. At the time I disconnected extra SD boxes were $20 a month with an extra fee for HD on top of that.
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