Sounds like my wife - looking for excuses not to get something now. No way that I can find to tell it what apps you want it to search. Plus, I can't see how the way they display it could be confusing at all - unless maybe you have no clue what services you don't subscribe to - from what I can see, you either subscibe to Hulu, Netflix, HBO... or you don't. As far as the "cable" channel apps, while I do not have cable/satellite service at all, I can still watch plenty of stuff on Lifetime, AMC, ABC, etc. apps even without a subscription.
It's not like you're going to find any movie or TV show on 6-10 places. After all, there's no Amazon or Vudu (or any ultraviolet service). A show will be for sale on iTunes, possibly available to view on Hulu or Netflix (if you have a subscription) and from there, you're typically looking at a single other location. All the searches I did, you're looking at 2 or 3 places to get something. Found 4 results only when both Hulu and Netflix had the show. Think about it, there is nothing that's available on both AMC and ABC or pretty much any other 2 networks you can name.
However, since it's been awhile since I had the ATV3, I really can't say whether the ATV4 is a worthwhile upgrade for those happy with the ATV3 - Only remember it had something I wanted when it came out and I'm happy with it.