So, just to confirm, something like this isn't possible?
http://communities.vmware.com/message/1328903#1328903
You'll note that Dave says that your host needs to support VMDirectPath, VT-d, etc. Maybe it'll work, maybe not. It's definitely not supported by VMWare at this time.
Even if you do get the virtual machine to see the tuner card, what you're more likely to have problems with is watching TV. The virtual video card probably won't have sufficient performance. When I used USB tuners with hosted products (i.e.: VMWare Workstation), I could capture video, but not at full screen. Same for playback; a small window, ok, but not full screen. If your purpose is to just record TV and watch on some other machine (i.e.: use virtual machine as a DVR) then you have a chance as you won't be using the virtual video card for playback.
I'd guess there's not that many people who have tuners in virtual machines (at least not with acceptable performance to make it worthwhile) so don't hold your breath that you'll get a lot of comments on the subject. If you have the card already, then just try it, since you have nothing to lose except some time and labor. If you don't have the card yet, then you'll have to decide for yourself how much you're willing to experiment on the bleeding edge.