Calling London. And Sydney. And Copenhagen...

I live in Pakistan and we're about a year behind the US. Also, only the successful shows make it here, so no Friday Night Lights and 30 Rock. I download all the shows(illegally because iTunes doesn't accept non-US and Euro credit cards) and if I like it, I'll buy the dvd when it comes out.

When it comes to American shows airing on terrestrial TV, it's a bit of a mixed bag here in Norway. Some shows, the most popular ones, are aired just a few weeks behind the original showings, like Lost. This is not something new to these piracy-ridden times, though; Murder One was a huge success here, and at one point aired the same week as the US broadcast. Elsewhere, shows are everything from a couple of months to a couple of years behind. It's not like everything American is shown here, anyway, comedy hits like How I Met Your Mother and 30 Rock are conspicuously absent.
My own habits are a mix of watching things on TV (House, Grey's Anatomy, Heroes), on DVD (Lost, Galactica, Weeds), and downloads. The latter option is mostly for stuff that hasn't been released on DVD, or been picked up by Norwegian channels yet.
Spoilers aren't that hard to avoid.

I moved to London a year or so ago, and while there is plenty of good Brit TV, most US shows tend to run 6-8 weeks behind. I have two solutions: Slingbox and iTunes.

Slingbox is great for live events, like the MLB playoffs. But of course you need a TV in the US (I keep an apartment in NY) to hook it up to.

iTunes is great for downloads and watching at the gym or wherever... or it was, until this year, when NBC decided to switch to Amazon's service, which is not compatible. Which means I have to wait for the DVDs of Heroes, Bionic Woman, etc., which pisses me off mightily. And of course, that makes it clear just how spoled we've become... that I consider access to these shows, now denied me by NBC, some sort of inalienable right.

Australian TV programmers seem to have just caught on to the dent that downloading is putting into their ratings. A number of programs
(House, Heroes, Prison Break, My Name is Earl, Life, Supernatural, Bionic Woman) are now being aired in step with US screenings. This is good in the short term but the problem will come at the end of the year - our Summer non-ratings period runs from December to February. The commercial channels will not want popular series airing when their ratings aren't going to count for anything, which will again create a delay that will again force viewers to seek their favourite shows online.
Of course, the number of shows being fast-tracked pales in comparison to the number that are aired months or years after their original US screenings. Shows like BSG, Veronica Mars, Weeds, The Sopranos, Nip/Tuck and The Office are all a season behind and relegated to late-night slots, if not pulled altogether. Shows like Friday Night Lights, 30 Rock and Dexter have all yet to be scheduled on Aussie tv.

My viewing habits, here in Israel, have changed dramatically.
20 years ago we only had one channel, which aired whatever it felt like (a lot of British TV and a few American hit shows - like Dallas and Dynasty back in the 80's). As all information moved around slower back then, this was not a big problem - though I do recall a writing on a wall which stated "Laura's father killed her", spoiling Twin Peaks for those who followed the show.
In the early 90's more channels went on air, followed by cable-TV.
Up until a year ago or so this was our main source of TV - and the shift toward US shows was evident. Everything was on, but usually a few months after the American season ended.
Now, I don't watch regular TV anymore. Every show is available for download hours (or minutes) after it's US airing, and quite often, if you want it, you can get Hebrew subtitles (Israeli TV was never dubbed, unlike in Europe) within hours or days.
We now follow Lost, House, Prison Break, 24 and others shows simulatously with the US - which makes following blogs and other information sources more interesting and less problematic (as far as spoilers are concerned).
Most shows are still available on Cable and Satellite TV, but those who really care don't have to wait anymore.

Yup. TV programs here have definitely started airing earlier. A few years ago it would have been unusual for an American show to air new episodes before Christmas.

Now, we get Prison Break three days after US airing, 24 after about a week, Lost within a few days, Desperate Housewives, etc.

That's still more the exception than the rule though. The first season of FNL only finished up here in Ireland last week, and I'd be surprised if they show Season Two at all, considering they put Season One on at 3:30 on a Saturday morning. All first seasons of shows seem to be shown in late spring/summer, and if they're hits, the network shows the next season pretty soon after.

The earlier airings probably do have an impact on downloading though. If I can watch Prison Break on my TV on a Thursday (and I can) I'm not going to download it on a Tuesday (which I used to).

If only the NBC free episode downloads of Heroes and the Office is available outside the US, that will be so great for the rest of us!

I don't even own a TV here in Denmark, which pretty much means I'm an exclusive resident of laptopia. I'll leave the specifics of how I stay 'Tuned In' (hardy har har) to your imagination, but let's just say that I get by.

As for the 'real' residents of Denmark, I'm amazed that no one seems to notice that all the shows are weeks behind here. My friends always bring up developments from shows like 'Lost' that happened months ago. I ask them if they ever cheat and try to download or read spoilers, but most of them seem to regard it like flipping to the last chapter of a novel right after you buy it.

Also, most of them just don't have the 'net-savvy (or utter moral turpitude, as the case may be) to go the free-agent route. I remember being amused last spring when everyone was asking "Have you heard of this new show, 'Ugly Betty'? It looks funny!" and I had just downloaded episode 16 or something.

But hey, they get the TV shows a few months behind, we're still working on free health care and effective education. It all evens out...