Would that honestly make you happy?
Happy? No! The recording industry was well and truly burnt by apple and ITunes. It aint gonna happen with Tv. Go and have a look at the Tv programs available on iTunes. Our local Australian rebroadcasts are more up-to-date. That's saying something.
I'm happy to pay for fresh new content. Unfortunately over here the only legal option is cable TV.
Not commenting on lock in but in relation to technology can you surmise why the iPad 3 has such a resolution on a 9" screen? The iPad2 can download and stream hd video content to apple tv just as easily as the iPad 3.
Btw; typing this on an iPad 2