Live sports is really the hardest thing to deal with. Without ESPN you are missing a lot, and to get just ESPN it starts at $25 a month and works its way up from there.
But, I will say in general it's kind of fun for me to figure out all the other options. I just got an Amazon Recast (with easily expandable storage), and while I didn't really need it, the live broadcast TV/DVR on my phone/tablet/what ever I want it on is neat Also I'm getting used to using Pluto more, in my hotel room I was watching Misfit Garage on Discovery, come home and find Misfit Garage on Pluto's Cars channel.
If you just ignore the elephant in the room, live sports, having something like Netflix, OTA DVR, and things like Pluto and you're gonna have about as much TV as you can care to watch.