
I stopped watching TV, how about you? - widea
I stopped watching TV for a few weeks now.
Triggers: advertisements, advertisements and lack of interest in the tv programs
Effects: more time, more peacefulness
======
WnZ39p0Dgydaz1
I stopped watching TV more than 12 years ago and never missed it. I just think
it's boring. That being said, I don't think watching TV is fundamentally
different from any other kind of entertainment, be it YouTube, reading HN,
Twitter, games, or whatever. It just appeals to a different (older?) audience.
Stopping the consumption of any kind of mass media will give you similar
benefits.

Just like readers of newspapers and magazines have been declining, TV will
continue to decline as the generation of older viewers dies out. We have more
interactive entertainment now.

My mom, who is retired, watches TV for 12+ hours a day, simply because she
doesn't "understand" the newer options of entertainment. I can already see the
same pattern in myself. I love playing videogames because I grew up with them
and I'll probably play them until I die. But I am unable understand or find
fun in the entertainment options of the younger generation, such as spending
hours on Instagram or Snapchat. It sucks getting old, haha.

~~~
Covzire
I loathe the television advertisement industry. Commercials are tailored for
an IQ of about 80 or less.

~~~
correct_horse
Half of people are below average

------
arsome
I've actually done the opposite in a way - trying to ween myself from most
social media in favor of more relaxing forms of entertainment. More in the
direction of video games or YouTube science/engineering videos than
traditional TV, but I still feel it's a better use of time and helps me to
relax better for the next day at work than say, getting in a big argument or
reading some extremist political thread on reddit or twitter does. That stuff
was eating my time in ways that just left me angrier and deriving less
enjoyment out of my life, firing up Red Dead or watching Technology
Connections or Tom Scott - decent improvements in my book, if still a "waste"
of time.

------
yters
One thing that helps society unify is a shared media experience. Used to be
oral poetry reading and plays. Then books. Then radio. Then TV. Now a massive
milleu of various social platforms.

I've dropped out of almost all of these, but there is a downside.

As Jesus says, "be in the world, but not of it."

Unfortunately, completely dropping out makes me "not in the world."

Not being in the world, hard to say whether I am not of it.

~~~
Joe-Z
I see what you‘re saying and have been wondering the same thing for a while
(although I don‘t have Jesus to back me up :D).

The way I see it is, there‘s only so many hours in a day and most of them I
spend at work anyway. So, instead of clinging on to shallow forms of
connection like commenting on the latest political scandal I try to take the
time out of my day and get a good talk in with people I care about about
topics that actually matter to both of us in the real world (friends, family,
plans, problems, maybe some of the latest office gossip, etc.)

I wish you a happy weekend!

------
OldGuyInTheClub
20 years and a week ago: [https://www.theonion.com/area-man-constantly-
mentioning-he-d...](https://www.theonion.com/area-man-constantly-mentioning-
he-doesnt-own-a-televisi-1819565469)

~~~
plessthanpt05
Most relevant reply I've ever seen.

------
caymanjim
There's something about many non-TV watchers that compels them to announce
that they don't watch TV, with a crazed look in their eyes and desperation in
their voice, pleading with the world to validate their religious beliefs. I
picture them occasionally cracking, hunched over in the closet with a blanket
over their head, watching Adam Sandler movies and crying in shame.

~~~
neic
From my personal experience with not having a TV for the last ~10 years. I
think the reason this comes up a lot is because people talk a lot about what
on TV. When I was one of the only people around who did not have a TV and the
conversation turned to some TV program, I was "forced" to say that I did not
have access to it and couldn't have seen it. I think some people took it as
slightly condesending that I actively choose to remove some activity from my
life they themselves enjoyed.

When there are only a few people in a group who do not do as everyone else and
it's a frequent conversation topic, they stick out. I have been on the other
side with veganism. I'm not vegan. People talk a lot about food. Vegans say
they don't eat meat. I would be slightly disheartened that they can't relate
to the tasty greasy burger I was taking about.

As a lot of my peers now don't have flow TV and a fair amount is vegan, the
default of everybody, my self included, is not to assume that you have a TV or
eat meat, but to ask if you don't know. When you don't have a TV program or
some types of food in common, the conversation shifts to something else. I see
a lot less friction now than a few years ago.

------
manigandham
Unfortunately for a lot of people, TV may have just been replaced by equally
wasteful online pursuits like social media. And these new formats can be far
more harmful than a simple TV show.

------
dredmorbius
Four Arguments for the Elimination of Television:

1\. The mediation of experience.

2\. The colonisation of experience.

3\. The effects of television on the human being.

4\. The biases of television

[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Arguments_for_the_Elimina...](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Four_Arguments_for_the_Elimination_of_Television)

[http://gen.lib.rus.ec/book/index.php?md5=448E80906BCD92C0AA0...](http://gen.lib.rus.ec/book/index.php?md5=448E80906BCD92C0AA02235E5E964F9A)

By Jerry Mander, 1977. An advertising executive with a deep personal and
professional familiarity with his subject.

~~~
dredmorbius
As for myself:

1\. Grew up in a household which adopted television late, B&W for years then,
and tightly restricted viewing.

2\. Never owned my own.

3\. Uni was the pivotal point for me. Whilst there'd been a TV at home,
occasionally watched, I didn't have one at school. And by the time I'd
graduated, the habit was all but entirely broken. I didn't relate to the
programmes then current, and never got back into the habit.

4\. Occasionally lived in households with TV. Have found it increasingly
intrusive.

4\. Would typically watch only whilst travelling. Some years back I found that
even this was simply a timesink and cesspit. Stopped.

I'm rarely inclined to even bother watching. Little programming is of any
interest, vast amounts are insulting or worse, discovery is opaque, even the
good programming is conspicuously engineered toward addiction. ("Lost" comes
especially to mind -- I've ... lost ... several friends to that. One of whom,
poor sweet summer child, thought that the finale would offer some sense of
closure....)

I'm not going to dispute that there is _some_ good programming available,
though when I seek that out, I use on-demand services (typically online
videos). HBO especially have put out some excellent programmes, and I've
caught _small portions_ of series such as _The Sopranos_ , _Mad Men_ , _Game
of Thrones_ , and ... that's about all I can really think of. Exception: _The
Wire_ which was excellent (watched the first season on DVD).

I read. I listen to lectures. I watch demos. Occasional puppies and kittens
and other floofs. But I don't miss the distraction, ads, manipulation, etc.

 _Not_ watching television simply opens up hours every week.

Oh, and yes, it's probably something of a social signifier:

[https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22333879](https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22333879)

------
Jerry2
I stopped about 17 years ago. After I entered university, I stopped watching
TV. I don't even watch it when I'm at a friend's house.

Quite possibly the best decision I made in my life. TV and news, especially
the news channels, are massive time sinks that just slowly eat your life away.
And not only do you get absolutely nothing from it, they make your life
miserable too. I'm pretty sure that people who don't watch TV are happier than
those who do. Someone should do a study on that.

------
rasz
I dont touch anything where I have no control over fast forward/pause/rewind.

~~~
cable2600
How about a DVR?

~~~
rasz
Downloading same content directly, often at higher quality, is just easier and
faster.

~~~
mango7283
So you don't watch "broadcast TV", but you do watch..TV shows, yes?

~~~
rasz
TV/cable is a transmission medium, TV shows are content. Netflix/amazon/dvd/bd
boxsets/pirate trackers are alternative sources of content. Unlike TV, they
all have advantage of you being in the driver seat of your own attention.

~~~
mango7283
Fair enough, but I think it's clear quite a few comments are interpreting the
question to encompass even spending time on the content.

------
graycat
For the last 10+ years, I had TV service from my Internet access provider and
three nice TV sets but NEVER watched TV, never turned on two of the TV sets,
and used the third set only to watch VCR tapes of good movies. I had TV
service from my ISP ONLY because getting all three of TV, Internet, and land
line phone was cheaper than the other two and no TV.

I finally gave up on TV after looking, clicking and clicking on the remote
control, for something worth watching and could never find it.

For NBA? Then the resolution was so low that the game just looked like a blur,
and I could never learn anything about what plays, tactics, etc. the teams
were using. Same for NFL -- just a blur with no insight into the pass patterns
or pass defense. For the rest, just noise. So, I gave up.

Now my ISP gives me some TV over the Internet and for the first time in 10+
years I watched some, the most recent superbowl. Now the video technology,
apparently some use of video cameras on drones, lots of replay, etc. made what
was going on in the game at least a LITTLE meaningful. What I'd really like,
from both the NFL and NBA would be _game films_ with lots of slow motion, high
resolution, and expert explanation -- as close to the most _analytical_
information I could get. For the _drama_ and which team to _root_ for, I
flatly, absolutely, positively do not care -- I care only about learning about
strategy and tactics, say, as a coach, scout, general manager, etc. would.
E.g., for the superbowl I watched, I came away with some understanding of the
quarterbacks and pass receivers but NOTHING on the four lines, offensive,
defensive, for the two teams. Soooo, for any good view, at LEAST also permit
understanding the four lines. Etc.

But likely no more TV until, say, the next superbowl!

------
lcall
I've never been much of a TV person, since growing up doing mostly other
things, and haven't wanted to agree to the ToS of any of the paid services.

But sometimes it is helpful to do something that doesn't require much thought,
for a little while, after I'm tired of reading or whatever. Internet radio is
one (the radiodroid app is really cool, on f-droid.org, and newsblur).

But back on topic, I was glad to discover
[https://wwitv.com/portal.htm](https://wwitv.com/portal.htm) (no affiliations)
w/ internet TV from around the world: mostly news stations, but a few seem to
have more than that, like couple of them in Spain. (Occasionally have to
switch channels if there is content I particularly don't want, but that is
common.)

(Edit: fwiw, I put other ideas on fun/relaxing, here:
[http://lukecall.net/e-9223372036854618463.html](http://lukecall.net/e-9223372036854618463.html)
)

------
daxfohl
This conversation makes me think maybe watching TV was a better use of my
time.

~~~
mango7283
"I don't watch TV, I watch [TV] shows on my computer."

------
YegoBear
That’s a shame. TV is amazing these days. HBO especially, is pumping out
amazing shows, like Succession, Watchmen, Chernobyl, etc. I’m only subscribed
to HBO and Netflix, so I never see any ads either.

Whatever floats your boat though.

------
arvinsim
Once the internet became mainstream, I dropped TV and never missed it.

------
slightwinder
TV is just a platform. There are good and bad channels. But did you also stop
the habit of consumption? No netflix or other Video-Platform? No Youtube,
lurking on twitch or other social medias? Do you embrase now more active
content or beneficial things for your life?

There are different ways to use your time. Some are beneficial, some are more
for wasting time till the more benefecial parts are back again. Where is your
focus now without TV?

------
obarthelemy
I'm not sure what this question means.

TV as the brodcast platform ? ie OTA programs, with ads ? TV as the content
format, ie scripted shows, unscripted shows, sports, news, .... TV as "video
content on a screen" ?

Looking at the younger type around me, they kind of brag about no-TV; but
replace that with lots of social and viral which have very low info content
and prod values. And sports; which is the emptiest of empty contents.

~~~
widea
Well, I switched off my Horizon box...

------
quickthrower2
On a related note am curious about these conversations at work where someone
names a film and a lot of people have seen it, and that pattern applies to
many films across many genres leading me to think “most people” watch 1000s o
hours of film but not only that can recall the plots of those films. I’m sort
of jealous as those conversations seem interesting but i feel. can’t
contribute much as I hate most films!

~~~
bdowling
If you’re interested in a quick crash course in film appreciation, I recommend
the documentary series _The Story of Film: An Odyssey_ [0]. The whole thing is
15 hours, but you can easily skip the episodes you’re not interested in and
still learn a lot.

[0]
[https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Film:_An_Odysse...](https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Story_of_Film:_An_Odyssey)

------
jedberg
When you say you stopped watching TV, do you mean you stopped watching linear
television with commercials, or all visual entertainment?

Because if you mean the first thing, I stopped watching linear TV in 1999 when
I got a Tivo.

I guess technically that's not true, I still watch Jeopardy and Wheel of
Fortune live with commercials. But other than that no linear TV.

Unless you count sports. Sometimes I watch live sports.

But other than that no.

------
vidanay
As a child of the 70's, TV is pretty much a fundamental part of my life, and I
have never really explored the idea of "quitting" it. My 11 year old son
however, I don't think he's watched 100 hours of broadcast TV in his entire
life, and probably zero in the last five years. He's watched exponentially
more YouTube than I have though.

------
cable2600
I keep Cable TV for the WWE shows. The DVR records them so I don't miss them.
WWE has a ton of lawyers looking for people who pirate their shows, much more
than Disney or others. So it would have to be streaming services like WWE
Network to watch them if Cable TV is gone for me. I got Amazon Prime Video,
Disney Plus, Hulu, etc.

------
millstone
No, cling to TV, we are in the golden age of television! There are so many
great shows. And these are worthwhile: there's narrative arcs, stories told,
actual art.

Let go of TV, you fall into 3 minute YouTubes, then into 15 second TikToks,
and I don't know what's after that but it's not good.

------
thegeekpirate
Haven't watched anything from cable television in roughly twenty years. I like
the ability to choose what I will or will not watch at any given time, without
advertisements.

I'm not going back to listening the the radio or reading newspapers any time
soon, either.

------
mrcodedude
I watch sports, so I'm kind of stuck. But I'll usually be on my phone during
the ads, looking at Twitter/Reddit/etc.

All cable and network shows I don't watch live so I can either skip through or
completely avoid the commercials.

------
zzo38computer
I do not watch television so often. Sometimes I do watch television (and
sometimes listen to the CBC radio, too), but usually I prefer to read a book,
or work on computer, or something else. (I don't use YouTube at all.)

------
Animats
I've never owned a working broadcast TV receiver.

------
BXLE_1-1-BitIs1
Stopped watching when I was about 13.

Now retired internet news junkie.

------
TYPE_FASTER
We dropped cable about 10yrs ago, just streaming services. It’s pretty great.

------
Simulacra
I haven't had a television since 2004. I stream everything.

------
nico0209
it is a long time i don't own a tv and don't see much on the laptop even. For
one main reason, compared to the 80-90, today programs are very bad. I can't
stand them.

------
Gibbon1
After my divorce I went over to a friends house and when he opened the door
you could hear a women screaming in terror on the TV. I was in a bad emotional
state and it was jarring and abrasive. I haven't willingly watched TV since.
25 years.

------
ehnto
Ages ago. Keep at it, you won't miss it.

------
lazylizard
Its been a couple of decades since..

------
HNY1
I stopped watching TV 8 years ago.

------
joak
TV ?! What's that ?

I use to watch tv at my grand ma's when my parents leave me there for the
weekend.

Then I never watched TV.

Why would you watch tv ?! This is crazy. Why not read a book or spend time
with your family and friends or... So many things to do and to learn, too many
people to be with (a whole planet indeed). I do not understand this "watching
tv" stuff. Aren't you going to die soon ? Nothing better to spend your time on
?

~~~
quickthrower2
I find tv good if I am tired. Something to keep a tired mind occupied where
coding or even reading might be too much. If I am not tired I do feel like
it’s a waste of time.

