I don't think you're misunderstanding me or arguing with me....I think we agree that it's going to be situation specific....but a quick look a my particular situation makes it easy to see why I do what I do.
1) Can I get the channels I want? With most services, no. With YouTubeTV, yes. With satellite or cable, also yes.
2) Does Netflix factor in? No, I'd have it anyway, and even if I didn't want it, my wife and stepson "need" it, ergo, so do I. Does Amazon factor in? No, not only would I have Prime Video anyway, but also even if I watched zero Prime Video content, Amazon Prime is something we purchase/use outside the realm of entertainment. Does Hulu factor in? Sort of....cable/satellite/streaming service makes some of what I use Hulu for redundant, and while I'm starting to get into a couple Hulu originals, some of what I need it for would be negated by having a live tv source with the channels I want.
3) What does this stuff cost?
Previously, $75.19 for internet, it was over $100 for DirecTV when we had it, Spectrum wasn't any better, so I'm just going to call it an even hundred, give them a $15 discount for bundling (it wasn't much when last I checked), and say that gets me $150 for cable and internet bundled together with Spectrum. $187.27 if you add back in Netflix, Amazon, and Hulu.
Currently, $75.19 for internet, $53.11 for YouTubeTV, gets me 128.30/mo., almost $22 dollars cheaper than the alternative. And it means that in the 7ish months of the year I don't watch TV I'm free to pay $75 less than being locked into TV provider contracts. (Granted, I do watch TV shows, I just typically watch them after they're released on Netflix, Amazon, or Hulu.)
I forget what he told me, but I want to say what my friend in Austin said he's paying is somewhere in the vicinity of $75 for bundled cable and internet (a much faster internet speed than I get for $75, I might add). If that's right, and I could get it, I probably would. It'd largely be a wash because I wouldn't enjoy much of the greater value for the same price, but who knows, it might incline me to watch TV shows as they come out, like I used to do, instead of waiting for them on streaming services. At least I'd have the option to watch recorded TV year-round if I felt like it. My months with the streaming TV services says probably not, but when my time isn't being taken up with football, who knows.
I expect all this to cycle and swing back the other direction, eventually. Or at least it will if the cable and satellite companies intend to survive. They're in big time crisis mode right now. I'm in a comfort zone right now, but with Disney doing its thing and potentially taking ABC shows with it, the BBC making deals with BritBox that could ultimately take away some of my Prime content....the list really seems to go on and on with content providers that are looking at pulling their stuff from the streaming providers and going with their own subscription service. At some point it will have to stop for me, either choosing to not watch certain shows or go back to something more streamlined. We're not there yet, though.