T.V. was supposed to be free again a few decades ago, in exchange for watching commercials....

Recently there was a movement to break apart programming, and force the distributors to only charge consumers for individual channels. Premier movie and sports make up the bulk of total costs.
Those costs are paid for by all consumers.
It failed.

lol!!

I've been without TV since 2001. Don't miss it one bit.

When I do see some at relatives or a hotel, I am amazed at how old people have gotten. Like Kevin Costner and Alex Trebec.

I do play video games and surf the web. But I also run 10ks, bench 250+lbs and curl 45+lbs.

But yeah, TV sucks. There's 1000's of channels and never anything good on.

Go for a run. Bang your wife. Play some guitar. Anything.

Living alone, I would go nuts without TV. Just even as background noise as I do other things around the house, it's almost comforting to a degree.

I could see that.

I have too much noise. But I'd miss it if it were gone.

Most times, it's Military Channel, BBC America, Velocity, news or sports.

Keep that stupid MTV crap outta here.

I mostly gave up TV when I got my MBA. No time. We projector theater for movies - not hooked up to TV. Only the super basic network cable. Don't really watch tv. Movies? yes. But only good ones. No more streaming. That is just as bad as tv.

Larry

I was born in 1970 and have never had a television in my house. I was fortunate to meet a girl that shared my experience and thought it was a good idea to continue in the same direction. There are so many other things to do!

Havent had cable or dish for 12 years. Rabbit ears pick up an amazing amount of channels here in SoCal. Lots of HD as well.

There are people who "do," and people who "watch." The time you spend watching, is time you don't spend doing.

As a separate issue, there is the issue of commercialism and marketing and ......brainwashing. Mind control. This is not good for you. It includes the intensity and stimulation you get from television. Those of us who rarely watch TV......find commercial TV to be rude, stark, obnoxious and taxing. It is hard to watch. Makes me nervous. Mesmerizes me. Puts me in a highly anxious and hypnotic trance. I have to look away. Sanity includes this aversion, I think. Then again, most folk here know I'm crazy. (wink)

I'm growing vegetables this year. I probably spend as much time staring at my garden and meditating as most folks do watching TV. And it feels good.

Never had cable or a dish. Watched only free over-the-air TV for years. A year ago my flat screen went dark. Planned to fix it but never got around doing it. So no TV now. Don't really mind, radio is fine.

We disconnected the TV from the outside world over a decade ago.

Comments about anxiety over news programs and insomnia sound very familiar.
I have one weakness, F1 racing and my father in law expects me on Sunday mornings to watch when there is a race on TSN.
From time to time, my son will recommend a sitcom and present us with season DVDs.
We both read,, the kids grew up reading, I play guitar and sing a bit, my wife writes, gardens and rides her horses, we travel.
Who has time for programming?

Best
Les

I like the replies in this thread!

Brian

I must agree... TV is 90% anger, petty rudeness, or juvenile potty humor... but like a horrible train wreck I can't turn away from it!

As has been said there is Netflix and Redbox for movies.

I live at Point Fermin, the southern most tip of Los Angeles county (city of San Pedro) there is a big hill between me and the transmitters so free TV is very difficult to get on antenna.

I don't have one, but I was never big on it anyway. As kids, we had one and you watched when and what the adults watched, so often I just preferred to read. And I'd have to say Supes is on to something. For decades, I've had friends say they wished they had the time to work out as often as I do, or go out, do whatever, but they never have the time. But they follow up with "hey, did you see American Idol last night?"

I hate to sound like a puritan...

But if you can take a step back and look at what actually goes on in commercials and programs.

Lies, cheating, stealing... all get passed off with a nod and wink (and a smile) as if such behavior is "funny" and non consequential.

Just sayin...

I was looking at an over-the-air antenna's installation instructions and this was at the bottom of the page:

i quit watching TV when i was 17 years old. that was 25 years ago. i haven't missed it.

For those that have dumped TV (and presumably cable), what do you do for your telephone and internet connections?

We have all three bundled together via Time Warner. I'm all for getting rid of TV/cable. I don't really watch it anyway, though the kids love their cartoons/on demand. But the wife insists upon a landline and we all agree upon maintaining internet connectivity.

There are only two shows on network TV that I ever watch (Big Bang Theory & Modern Family). Could easily live without them. We scaled back out Dishnetwork plan to the unadvertised minimum. Cost is $22.50/month out the door.

I do have Netflix and watch a fair number of documentaries on my computer while working. I also have a TV over the treadmill and recumbent bike. It's hooked up to a BluRay player that streams Netflix. Running on the treadmill or pedalling is about the only way I watch movies.