Maybe the thing to do is pressure the cable companies to do "ala carte" pricing. Most channels out there are garbage -- there's only 6 or 8 that I watch (before falling asleep), even though I have to pay for somewhere around 40. I'd much rather pay for a select few that I watch.
If you get DSL, you can set up your Roku or other streaming device to a computer in another room. We use a cord from the modem that goes behind some bookcases along a wall and exits right at the back of the TV, then to the streaming device and the TV. I imagine a wireless connection could also be established.
My husband does the same as you. He will stream something and fall asleep while it is on.
BTW, through Roku (don’t know about the other streaming devices) there are add-on channels (some free, some pay) that range from clips of the local or national news to specialty programming of all sorts, some of which are short video clips on topics like cooking or DIY, as well as music, religious or foreign language channels.If you want current programs, you can subscribe to those through Amazon or Hulu. Hulu has commercials. I don’t know about Amazon. For us, since there was a financial component to going off the sat TV, we don’t pay-per-view plus pay a subscription fee, especially when there are also commercials. My experience with streaming Hulu is that it requires higher bandwidth than DSL provides.