My dad has DirectTV. Sure, it has loads of channels. But once you subtract out all the PPV channels, the really narrow special interest channels (the marlin fishing channel) and the holy rollers there's only twenty or so you'd want to watch, depending on your interests.
I dislike the fact that they make such a big deal about the number of channels available. DirectTV, for example, offers between 140 and 285 channels! Who would want to flip through that many channels?!