I don’t get it? Can I watch the History channel, A&E, Fox, etc.? How about recording them? I like Gold Rush for example, how do you record/watch it?
Let me take a half-step back here. Obviously not everything one would watch on Cable/DirecTV is available on Roku by itself, and in some cases not available with Roku and a Netflix / Hulu subscription either.
The two shows I miss being able to watch "live" are Burn Notice (USA Network) and Neil Cavuto on Fox Business Network. For me, pretty much everything else on Cable/Satellite was crap anyway.
Now most people say you cannot record from Roku. That's INCORRECT!! I have an old VCR that's hooked up to my Roku via the RCA jacks (Roku --> VCR) It records off the Roku just fine. Here I never thought I'd have a use for that old VCR! You can do the same thing with a TIVO device and Roku, or a TV board in your computer as long as it has RCA jacks for input, or a converter to RCA is available for your board.
I can also hook the Roku up to my Media PC TV board (RCA --> RCA) and do the same thing. So recording off of Roku to another device is possible - but I'd ask WHY would one want to do that when everyhing on Roku is "on demand" so you can watch it whenever you want and therefore no need to record unless you'd want to keep a copy for yourself.
As for the shows you mentioned like Gold Rush, or shows on History Channel, A&E etc. all I can say is for you to look at the content available on Hulu Plus, Netflix and Amazon Prime to see if your shows are available before you subscribe. If you're willing to be flexible and slightly modify how you watch TV, Roku's a great alternative and a great way to save some money.
Let me know if I didn't answer your questions or if you want more information. (Note: I'm not a Roku "reseller" nor do I work for them. I just think it's a great device and it's leading the TV Consumer revolution.)