Anyone else not own a TV?

[Somerset]

PB members seem to spend all their free time reading! I've always found that TV is a real barrier to reading - just too easy to switch it on and sit there for hours at a time. So we don't have one. The TV licence is also an issue. This is currently £145 (approx $225) which pays for the BBC. The BBC does some good things, the classical music schedule is great. But they are solidly pro abortion, pro homosexual, and their idea of a Christian seems to begin and end with the RCs.

The TV licence authority just will not accept that anyone can not have a TV: they write, telephone, come to our door. I know a couple of people without TVs and they get exactly the same problem.

Any non watchers on here?

 

[Frosty]

We do own a television, which we just use to watch movies. We do not have cable, though, and therefore do not watch TV programming. The only thing I miss is the ability to watch sports, but some of that can be relieved by using the internet.

 

[nwink]

My computer monitor also doubles as a flatscreen tv, however, we only use it for watching movies. No tv watchers here.

 

[Kim G]

We own a small, old TV without cable, so we can only pick up local channels with an antenna. We use it mostly for our Wii game console or watching Netflix. There's nothing wrong with a TV as long as 1)you don't waste your life watching TV, and 2)you don't watch all the NASTY stuff on there.

We actually moved our TV out of our living room for a couple of months because it was becoming a crutch. It's back now, but we're regulating it a lot better now.

 

[JP Wallace]

No TV is our house, we have a DVD player and flat screen tv (untuned) and use BBC iPlayer etc. TV Licensing Agency are like the Stazi (joke!) when we bought the flat screen in Argos we had to give address etc..and sure enough they wrote out to us to ask us to pay up or declare ourselves non-users of the signals!

 

[JoyFullMom]

We own a tv and get all the major networks for free with an antenna. We just prefer reading and games and being outside. When we DO want to watch, it is certainly nice to not have to pay! I can't imagine being hounded by an *authority* to own one though! Sheesh!

 

[MLCOPE2]

We have cable at our house, but it is only because it lowered our internet cost. We would have been paying $60 a month for internet but with the bundle of tv (which only includes networks, pbs, and home shopping ) it lowered our bill to $40 a month! We don't really even watch it but I will keep it as long as it keeps the price down.

 

[gordo]

We have 3 in our house sad to say. 40", 50" and 60" flatscreens that we somehow accumulated over the years. We don't watch a lot of TV to be honest. Mostly just the news and sports and the odd movie on Netflix or TV show. I do enjoy having it for morning workouts as it can dull the drudgery of cardio on a treadmill. And yes, the OP is correct in that many times a TV can steal you from reading and other productive things.

Good on you folks who don't have one. If it was more of a distraction I would probably get rid of them.

 

[mainahgal]

No cable at our home. We have beenb cable free for almost 5 years. Its definitely freeing. Our children are small and I am so thankful on mornings we don't roll out of bed and watch sesame street or something like that. Instead we have breakfast together at the table and talk about the word and learn things!

 

[Raine]

We have an older TV and a box that allows us to stream Netflix to it, but no cable or satellite and I don't think we can get an antenna signal here.
This was a compromise with my husband because I wanted to get rid of television altogether several years ago. At least this keeps the commercials off it and gives us some choice as to what we watch.
I keep it turned off during the day and then we watch it when he comes on in the evening, usually kids shows like Thomas the Train & Bob the Builder now, because I asked him not to watch stuff with a lot of sex and violence with our toddler in the room.

 

[Curt]

No TV here.

 

[rookie]

We have an old 32" tube in the living room that the cable isn't even connected to, and a flat screen 42" in my brother in law's room that I watch hockey on....besides that, it's Netflix. And I got my wife the box set of Little House on the Prairie...you might say it's probably almost all we watch, when we do watch.

 

[Reformedfellow]

The TV licence authority just will not accept that anyone can not have a TV: they write, telephone, come to our door. I know a couple of people without TVs and they get exactly the same problem.

Any non watchers on here?

No TV here either.
It's the same in Japan. The Japanese equivalent to your BBC, is what is called NHK here. And they constantly come to the house wanting money, etc. And they just can't believe when I tell them we don't own a television. I sometimes feel like I have to invite them literally into the house just to prove that there really isn't a television anywhere in the house. They're like the gestapo!

 

[J. Dean]

We do own a television, which we just use to watch movies. We do not have cable, though, and therefore do not watch TV programming. The only thing I miss is the ability to watch sports, but some of that can be relieved by using the internet.

Same here. I don't miss cable or satellite at all, for the most part. I too miss the sports, but it's par for the course

(BTW, my stance is one of personal preference. I don't have a problem with other people watching TV, just so it's made clear)

 

[Shawn Mathis]

I grew up without a tv in the 80s. My last recollection of a show was the Worlds' Greatest American Hero and the Incredible Hulk. I did not get a tv until 2 years or so after my marriage in '94. My father-in-law bought it for us but not after my wife was converted to an avid reader! I got her started on the Chronicle of Narnia and she's been reading ever since.

We have a 32" flat screen that doubles as a computer monitor. No cable. Bunny ears only. Tightly regulated. And being in the land of the free, we don't get harassed by the government just by the cable companies

I find internet research (like at books.google.com) a bigger temptation than tv.

 

[JML]

We do own a television, which we just use to watch movies. We do not have cable, though, and therefore do not watch TV programming. The only thing I miss is the ability to watch sports, but some of that can be relieved by using the internet.

Have a TV but no cable or satellite. Just use it for movies or games. Watch some shows on the internet. Mostly cooking shows or sports.

 

[kvanlaan]

One TV for occasional movies; no TV watchers here, though.

 

[JoannaV]

I grew up without a TV and remember well being persecuted by the licensing people. I think they have left my parents alone for a while now though.
When I got married my husband had some kind of big screen TV, so we have that. No cable, just antenna service. It gets turned on way too much in the evenings though :-(

 

[MarieP]

I own a TV and a DVD player but only turn my TV on maybe once every couple months. I don't have cable, and non-cable service is not the best in my building. I like watching Jeopardy, except that I seem to always be busy with something and forget to watch it! I hardly ever use my DVD player. If I see a movie, I usually go to the first-run or discount theater (maybe 3 times a year). My aunt and uncle showed some decent movies at Thanksgiving (which is now a bygone era because they now want to be Florida birds!) That is where I was introduced to the marvelous movie called Up!

Now, my computer, however...

 

[Elizabeth]

No TV connection here. Netflix to monitor, for occasional good things like All Creatures Great and Small. We really enjoy that series.

 

[SRoper]

My wife came with a TV. Thankfully, we don't get any signal here so it is just used for movies.

 

[VictorBravo]

I quit watching TV when Gunsmoke went off the air in 1975. I was living at home with my parents, but I moved out the next year and have never bought a TV.

Someone gave me a TV in the early 80s. I converted it to an oscilloscope, which provided hours of entertainment without annoying commercials, sound tracks, or inane plots--nothing like sawtooth wave patterns, simple sine waves, or complex harmonics from everyday objects to keep one amazed.

 

[Shawn Mathis]

I converted it to an oscilloscope, which provided hours of entertainment without annoying commercials, sound tracks, or inane plots--nothing like sawtooth wave patterns, simple sine waves, or complex harmonics from everyday objects to keep one amazed.

That's awesome. Written like a true techie.

 

[FCC]

No television in our house! We find ourselves too busy living life.

 

[GulfCoast Presbyterian]

We have two, but mostly only watch college football games and DVD's.

 

[DMcFadden]

I have one to watch news, movies/DVDs, and SNL. I refuse to watch "reality shows" and my only semi-regular "entertainment" program is Law and Order re-runs.

 

[Jeff Burns]

We have one, but it's in the basement in a corner just sitting. We do watch movies from time to time on the computer though.

 

[PresbyDane]

no tv here

 

[jgilberAZ]

We own a TV. But, no cable, dish, or antenna.

Wii or rentals, only.

We do occasionally watch something on hulu.com, though.

 

[MarquezsDg]

we do . the kids for their room living room and master bedroom. movies and sport and a whenever i want to see a good horro movie i turn to good old fashion prosperity gospel tv.