How many DU'ers don't watch TV?

[McKenzie]

I have a tiny portable that lives in the attic; it only gets used during the Formula 1 racing season. Otherwise, I wouldn't allow a TV into my house. Ignore my indulging in F1 - parallel universe LOL!

Some researchers have dubbed TV "electronic heroin":

<snip>

"Most unsettling of all is this: the content of television is not a vision but a manufactured data stream that can be sanitized to 'protect' or impose cultural values. Thus we are confronted with an addictive and all-pervasive drug that delivers an experience whose message is whatever those who deal the drug wish it to be. Could anything provide a more fertile ground for fostering fascism and totalitarianism than this? In the United States, there are many more televisions than households, the average television set is on six hours a day, and the average person watches more than five hours a day—nearly one-third of their waking time. Aware as we all are of these simple facts, we seem unable to react to their implications. Serious study of the effects of television on health and culture has only begun recently. Yet no drug in history has so quickly or completely isolated the entire culture of its users from contact with reality. And no drug in history has so completely succeeded in remaking in its own image the values of the culture that it has infected.

</snip>

http://dieoff.org/page21.htm

I suppose we all make excuses for whatever habits we have - I used to do it with alcohol. However, I absolutely HATE teevee with a vengeance. Since kicking the habit several years ago I find that I've never missed it at all.

I wonder how many regular viewers could turn off their teevee for, say, a month? Could you do it?

[wake.up.america]

1. I have no time for TV.

[FreedomAngel82]

2. I don't watch much like I used to

There are a few shows I enjoy and a movie every once in a while I'll see is on. :) Now days I'm more into reading and stuff on the internet and politics. :) And of course spending time with family and other activities I enjoy and of course college when it's in session.

[leftstreet]

3. TV is the flickering fire on the American hearth.

I can't remember who said that.

I don't watch it myself, but I'm exposed to it through my work. I can't believe tv watchers haven't taken to the streets with clubs over COMMERCIALS.

[shamrock]

4. I don't turn t.v. on

When my husband is home from work he turns it on, watches for a few minutes, then goes outside to do something. As soon as he's outside I turn the t.v. off, then he comes back in and turns it on, and so it continues. It's actually kind of funny. I think it's just that he likes noise and I don't.

[Skittles]

5. I watch very little because I think it is mostly crap

I do like Law and Order and The Daily Show but I would never get anything like TIVO that would encourage me to watch more TV - I think TV, for the most part, is a waste of time. I get tired of hearing people claim they have "no time for exercise", then they can tell you the plot developments of pure crap like Desperate Housewifes and Survivor. :puke:

[Pacifist Patriot]

27. If I had a dime for every person who said, "I just don't understand how...

you get so much done. How in the world do you manage it with three kids?"

Easy! I'm not sitting on my butt glued to the television for three to four hours every night.

[Skittles]

38. you know it, Pacifist Patriot

only when I'm sick do I lay on the couch and watch hours of TV - and it always makes me wonder how people can do it on a daily basis. :o

[benburch]

6. I watch very little.

Its not *all* bad, just most of it.

[benburch]

8. Espescially...

The Weather Channel.

[MADem]

7. I have it on a LOT, but I don't look at it much

It is a habit from a previous life, where I was in a job that required that I be up to speed on the news of the day. I leave the thing on, and if something happens that is heavy news, I pay attention. So, I guess you could say I "listen" to the TV, most of the time with half an ear...

[Catrina]

9. I haven't turned it on since the Wolf Blitzer lie about the Abramoff

scandal. Dean set him straight, but the blatancy of the lie was the last straw for me. I haven't missed it at all so far.

[Beam Me Up]

10. I stopped watching when they put W in the WH in 2000.

The exception to that was some news coverage during the week after 9/11.

But I can't stand looking at George W. Bush. Just the sight of the man provokes me into a fit--and this has been the case since before the 2000 election--which is why I no longer watch TV. I know that the "news" will have at least one picture of him on just about every friggn' day. My blood pressure just can't handle that.

Besides, TV is rot-gut propaganda. All they are doing is SELLING a particular CONSUMER REALITY to those who buy into it. That is what it is for. That is what it does in our world. True, there is the potential there for it to educate and inform--but you and I both know that is not the dominant economic force that drives its existence.

[Mind_your_head]

11. I really don't

Cancelled my cable 4-5 years ago and only have 1 17" TV hooked up to an old antennae on the roof. We get a few channels (usually fuzzy). I guess when they stop regular 'broadcasting', that's the end of TV at all in this house...not that we will miss it at all, b/c , well, there won't be 'too much to miss' ~ it's not a big part of our lives.

[neweurope]

12. Haven't had a TV since 1990.

Won't ever have one again.

-------------------

Remember Fallujah

Bush to The Hague!

[AuntiBush]

13. I'm Getting There.

Stuck in a 1 year contract w/Direct TV. Love them for years, but lately the only thing I watch it Jon Stewart's Daily Show, Current (GORE) and have literally given-up on all news stations, except CBS's 30 minute nightly (now and then).

Nothings on and more - nothing! Use to love the History Channel, TLC, and others but now everything is intoxicatingly boring and all war/religion related.

The content is so manufactured, its a disgrace. Turning off the TV more and more, and listening to XM or Internet radio and reading more.

[long_green]

37. I'm in your camp

the content on my cable dial is SO bad...it finally hit me that they're starving basic cable of any decent programming including a TV guide channel for the purpose of driving everyone to more expensive options. Not that the people who get the more expensive options like what they pay for.
When I leave my current digs, I'm pulling the plug. When I want to watch a game I'll go to a bar.

[MikeH]

14. I Never Watch TV

I have a TV which I keep in the closet and only occasionally take out for special occasions. I.e. the last time was one of the 2004 presidential debates.

So much is fast-paced and stress-producing. And so much is inane (i.e. the soap operas).

I remember when I was a kid I just had to watch certain kid's shows, and would get mad if I couldn't watch one for some reason.

I can see that it is addictive.

[dethl]

15. I have one, to play Dance Dance Revolution on....

I watch Comedy Central every now and then...as well as Faux News so I can laugh at O'Liely sometimes.

[EST]

16. I am disabled.

I have DU up on the computer most of the time, constantly writing emails, responses to postings, posting and writing letters.
I have the TV, with dish, on almost twenty four hours a day.
With the medication I have to take, sometimes I go for a week with zero sleep, followed by two or three days of being able to be awake only a few minutes at a time.
The house is my prison; TV, computer and phone my only outlet.
There are times when the tv is a horrid torture, others when it's a blessing.
For most of my life, I almost never watched tv and now I can recognize all of the US senators and most of the reps by their voices, alone.

Paying fifty bucks a month for all those thousands of repetitions of commercials is no bargain.
My second phone line costs me ten bucks and ISP-ten, a month.
Would I want to be totally without tv? Not really, most of the time, and there is only a pax tv channel available on free air-pfaw!

[mopaul]

22. I hear ya

me too, gotta have it. i can always watch a dvd too, or hbo on demand, but mainly news, and i can decipher the lies from the truth. it's a great learning tool, and an annoyance at the same time. we're the first generation, (or at least i am) that grew up watching t.v. when your all alone at home all the time, it's just something to keep you from going mad with boredom.

i can understand not wanting one in your home though. but don't take away my t.v.!

[McKenzie]

24. Maybe I'm being too hard mopaul!

I know there are people who are savvy enough to suss what's dross and what's not. It's also fair to say people there are who need it; EST points out some reasons why in his reply above.

Cheers mopaul and apologies if my comments came over as a tad Puritan.

[mopaul]

30. well, no one NEEDS t.v.

i mean, if it blew up, i'd live, and i'd go back to reading again. i wish i had the guts to throw it out into the dumpster.

[McKenzie]

26. Fair comments EST

I hadn't taken the needs of people such as yourself into account. Nor did I expand upon the fact that savvy viewers can spot what's good and what's not.

Best wishes EST.

[EST]

29. Thanks. We all have our crosses to bear.

[eridani]

17. Haven't owned one since 1970

Last time I watched was the 1989 earthquake.

[flordehinojos]

18. i love the old tear jerkers like magnificent obsession, all that heaven

can hold, and some of the more recent ones like, caroline, and save the last dance.

i used to like to be glued to all of the politcal talk shows but since they became such right wing propagandists for the bushes all, i don't turn them on... or just turn on a few seconds --just enough to remind me that i don't want to watch them.

[Mind_your_head]

19. self-delete

[gnorville]

20. TV? Not in a loooonngg time :)

"a manufactured data stream that can be sanitized to 'protect' or impose cultural values"

That gives more credit to the people that decide on programming than they are due, I doubt it's >quite< that insidious. Television programming is designed to get you to watch commercials, that's the heart of it. The newcasters may be sincere, the actors believe they're sharing their "craft" (no doubt to what they perceive to be an adoring public, we certainly give the stars enough idol worship), but the only reason they are on the air is because advertisers are using them to get you buy the latest toothpaste or dog food.

Is tv entertaining? Sure is, some of it anyways. Ninety percent tho' is a waste of my time and I don't bother with it.

[NI4NI]

21. Only C-Span, sometimes KO

what is the good sense in watching? to get information that you already have which tv news often fails to report, or worse misleading opinions? I'll stick to Air America Radio, and DU.

[stlsaxman]

23. C-span (streamed), Newshour, The Simpsons and My Name Is Earl.

had cable tv for a month or so but no broadband modem. Ended up watching only the span on tv and it cost me $40/month... gave up my cable service for a cable modem- and it costs about the same, as opposed to $70/month for both.

Hard to give up my "Simpsons Sundays", and I really enjoy "My name is Earl" now... If iTunes had both shows available for d/l you bet I'd turn off my tv forever.








:argh:

[Pacifist Patriot]

25. Very little. I watch "Lost" and that is the sum total of my prime time

viewing habits. If I turn on my television its usually to C-Span to chat along with the folks here. Sadly, at the moment I have CNN Headline News on because I was cleaning out my closet and needed something, anything to listen to. I was quickly reminded why I don't do that and turned it off again.

[yowzayowzayowza]

33. Mrs Yowza too!

"Lost" and "Invasion" have captivated her. I usually catch NBA & NFL playoffs and Wimbledon. Otherwise, the idiot box is off. Used to be a cable junkie, but dumped that long ago. Thatz $600/yr I no longer have to earn. Yea!

[mmonk]

28. I watch sports when my team is involved

and a few comedy shows. I don't watch the "news" shows anymore except local news.

[hippiechick]

31. I rarely do - I'm cable free and my local stations completely suck.

n/t

[LWolf]

32. I watch more than I used to.

When I lived alone, I watched tv a couple of times a month. Usually Law & Order reruns, running in the background while I read a book or corrected papers. I often wondered why I bothered to pay the satellite bill.

Now that I live with a 5-year-old who spent his first 4 years with nothing to do but tv, the tv is on every day. He only gets to watch for 20 minutes when he first gets up, and an hour before bedtime, after everything else is done for the day. In the beginning, he had severe withdrawals; could not imagine playing with toys, running around, etc. if the tv wasn't on in the background. These days he's settled in pretty well. Finding something worth watching is the biggest challenge, so he generally watches his collection of age-appropriate video/dvd over and over.

[Rob H.]

34. These are the shows I watch consistently

Scrubs
Boston Legal (I love it!)
Lost
My Name is Earl
The Simpsons
Family Guy

I watch Law & Order (the original, not the spinoffs) once in a while, but it's harder to get into now that Jerry Orbach is gone. The show's just not the same without him. I also try to record House, but don't always get a chance to watch it right away.

Can you tell I don't have cable? :P

[haydukelives]

35. I stoped watching tv news

after Bush started his war.Stoped watching altogether after the election in 04.
haven't missed it.
KILL YOUR T.V.

[CornField]

36. I go through spurts of interest

Occassionally I'll find a show I really like and won't want to miss it. For awhile I was into the Law & Order and CSI shows like that. My mother was heavy into the ABC soap operas, so I sometimes watch those -- more for the sentimental aspects than anything. At the present moment, I'm not watching much -- I catch MSNBC, CNN or CSPAN now and then while I'm cleaning, getting dressed or whatever.

I don't think I'd have a problem turning the television off for a month or more. I could always turn on the radio for background noise while I work and that's pretty much what the television is in our home: background noise.

[Dora]

39. TELEVISION IS CRACK. We don't own one, and we won't.

The first time I gave up television (I've had one relapse), I had pretty severe anxiety for about a month. No kidding. Real anxiety, worse than giving up cigarettes. The only thing that kept me from seeing a doctor and asking for Xanax was personal embarassment.

The cue that tells me that TV is worse than people think it is, is the fact that people are always justifying or rationalizing their viewing behavior to us, and we don't even ask. As soon as people find out we don't watch then they start explaining why they watch, or how little they watch, or how they don't have cable, or bla bla bla bla bla.

As a meat-eater, I feel no need to justify my meat-eating to my vegetarian friends: I don't believe eating meat is wrong. Funny how this isn't the same with TV.

My grandmother asked me once, "Why?" I told her I was happier without it. I didn't want the useless crap I used to want. I was less focused on the stuff in my life, and more focused on the activity of living. My mind seemed quieter. I was better able to ignore the other advertising all around me. My grandmother seemed confused by my answer. She has her TV on all day long: She wants all kinds of useless crap she doesn't need. She reads every piece of advertising that comes her way. She has difficulty answering a direct and clear question.

If you think people are free from pressure to choose to watch or not watch, please think again. My father-in-law, who knows quite well we don't and won't own a television, just sent us a VCR. No kidding. Dear family friends who have known us for years are always asking us, "did you see such-and-such?" After we reply in the negative, gently reminding them of our abstinence, they perform it for us: TV by proxy! We visit friends who leave the television on throughout our entire visit, making conversation difficult, inane at best. My in-laws, who live 1100 miles away, visit us twice a year. They flee from our house after dinner each night to return to their cramped trailer - because there's no television to watch in our house. It is rare that a restaurant or bar doesn't have a TV blaring somewhere in the background if it's not in our face.

A young niece asked me a couple of years ago, "But what do you watch?" I felt so sad for her. I told her that I watched my husband, and he watched me. That we talked to each other, a lot.

There are things I miss. I miss watching reruns of "As Time Goes By" on PBS while my husband is gigging late at night. I miss the opportunity for good shows like Jon Stewart and other gems that I know DO exist in the media. I miss the numbness and quiet that comes with kicking off my shoes and curling up on the sofa with the tv on and remote in my hand after another soulless day at the office.

I have never felt freer than I do without television. The joy I have without TV in my life is a truly a blessing and an exercise of liberty. It is also one of the loneliest experiences I have ever had.

[Gloria]

40. I pretty much watch TMC non-stop in the evening with an occasional break

to catch a bit of Olbermann...but if the news shits, then I can't even watch him. Other than that, the TV is off, unless I have to watch Clark on FAUX, which is torture (not him, but the crap I have to wait through).

I've taken a break from the Daily Show and even AAR, I'm just totally disgusted with everything. I find it more pleasant to listen to Radio China International, no kidding!

[chat_noir]

41. I stopped watching tv in 1993

exceptions

2000 Academy Awards

9/11 and 9/12 - new tv that had no antenna so picture was very poor. Maybe it was a blessing.

[Nutmegger]

42. The only thing I watch

is PBS. Only about a few hours a week though. Local news isn't worth it any more.

[bleedingheart]

43. I have basic cable and watch only movies I rent.....the current

cable TV set up is a scam....Why should I pay as much as $50 a month for corporate news pablum and crap???

[smirkymonkey]

44. I don't. Not interested.

I would much rather go online, watch rented movies or go out and do something. TV is a waste of time (most programming is moronic, with the exception of a few shows, comedy channel and some movie channels) at best and mind-eating propaganda at worst.

The only time I watch it is when I am visiting somebody who has cable. My roommate watches it constantly and she is always talking to me about what she saw on TV that day - arghhhhhhhh! ::argh: The worst thing is, she will report some "fact" she heard on television about what is going on in the world about a week after I have already seen it on DU.

[Ron Green]

45. I think you have to LOOK AT IT, not watch it ... in other words,

do some laps around the channels to see what the Big Feed is. This is the only way to keep tabs on the propaganda, and to draw some conclusions about what the bosses are up to.

Don't be afraid to look; just be aware.