Simple calculation: Say that you watch 1 hour of television a night, perhaps with 2 hours on a Sunday. That makes 8 hours of television a week (one entire work shift, for comparison). In a 52 week year, you have then watched television 416 hours.
Corollary 1: In 24 years, you will have amassed approximately 10,000 hours of television time. According to Malcolm Gladwell's theory of expertise, 10,000 hours is the practice goal for becoming an 'expert' at something - piano, drawing, a field of science, etc. Therefore, by maintaining the television practice above, you will lose out on the chance to be an expert at something in your life time (perhaps even two to three somethings).
Corollary 2: Let's say you don't want to be an expert at something, and you merely would work the extra time per week. In a minimum wage job in Michigan, you might make 7.40 USD per hour. After taxes and other deductions, let's say that gives you 5 dollars in spending money per hour, which over 416 hours gives you 2,080 USD per year extra. Since you're working rather than watching television in this scenario, you might also realize the cost of cable as spending money each month, which at a minimum could be 20 USD/month * 12 = 240 USD. Therefore, you stand to come out 2320 USD above the cable watching scenario. Being a wise consumer, perhaps you decide to pay off debt with this money.
Or, perhaps you decide to invest it. Investing 2320 USD per year for 40 working years at an annual return rate of 5%, which isn't too crazy to assume, would amass you an extra $296,000.00 upon retirement.
Think about television and how it impacts your life. Of course, my calculations can't include the real value of relaxation, laughter, or social community which television foster. However, I hope this can serve as a strong message that we often do things without fully considering the alternatives (and there are many more in the television case I haven't covered here).
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