Freeview box is only 30 quid with no additional payments, Sky and Virgin offer loads of different channels but the only one I really ever watch is E4, the terrestrial channels and maybe BBC3, I also get Sky Sports News but I do not get there actual sports channels, I can live though, I do not mind not being able to pause or rewind live tv though although it could become handy at advertisements. Sky and Virgin are just far too expensive for me in the long run and they don't show many Fulham games anyway and the Europa League is on channel five so ultimately I am the winner.
As Kris said, Xbox is the way.