The advertised price is not the bill
Cable pricing separates the headline rate from equipment rental, a broadcast TV fee, a regional sports fee and, after twelve months, the end of the promotional rate. Each is real money and none appears in the advertisement.
Add them up before comparing anything. A $70 headline routinely bills at $110 or more by month thirteen.
Five years, line by line
A licensed IPTV subscription at $12.50 per month with no equipment to rent is $150 per year, or $750 over five years, and the number does not move because there is no promotional cliff.
Cable at $70 promotional for year one and roughly $110 thereafter, plus about $15 per month in fees, works out near $6,000 across the same five years. The comparison is not close.
What the extra money buys
Cable buys a single accountable provider, a technician who will visit, and contractual clarity about local channels. For some households that is worth real money.
It does not buy better picture quality on the same source feed, and it does not buy device flexibility — which is where IPTV wins outright.
The honest caveats
IPTV depends on your home internet. If your connection is unreliable, you are moving a problem rather than solving one.
Local broadcast affiliates are also the hardest rights to license, so check the specific local channels you need before switching rather than after.