Making the break from TV.
Posted by: Timbo on 08 April 2013
Inspired by a small comment in the "Does sir require a newspaper" thread about abhorring TV and reading the newspaper whilst listening to music. My wife and I are considering cancelling our subscription to the TV service, or at the very least radically pruning the channels we get.
However, this is a bit of a minefield. Currently we get a bundled service of almost all the available TV channels, internet and digital phone supplied by Shaw of Edmonton. Switching to another provider i.e. Bell or Telus does not provide anything different in speed, number of channels or phone. Picking a TV bundle is difficult, if we pick the movie channels we get a load of other crap and a bundle of channels is only available if one has a qualifying subscription level, etc.
Both of us are really getting irritated by the number of commercials, I know they are a fact of life, but when the TV stations add their own commercials of what you are currently watching, what is coming up next, what's on next week, etc., etc. Then we have some very long breaks and me for one tends to forget what I was watching and where we were in the plot.
Add to that when the program recommences we still have on the lower third of the screen, you are currently watching and next and then don't forget to watch all with annoying graphics that have the Ken Burns effect and then maybe an advert. Most of these plus adverts are extremely repetitive. So the actual uninterrupted amount of programming is vanishing.
Currently I only really watch is the live English Premier League games on a Saturday morning (sometimes we get 3) and formula 1, but that is littered with adverts.
My question is: How to make the psychological break from the TV? OK we'll save a bit of money but I analysed the time we spend actually watching crap on the TV. For example we are both so tired in the evening, we make dinner, put the TV on and tune out for an hour. Sometimes it's just on in the background. It's not that we don't have stuff to do, but it is easy to stay in this time of year -20 this morning and snow still everywhere. If I were in England a lot of gardening would be happening.
Anyone else notice this degradation in TV quality or is it me getting old?
Tim
Posted on: 08 April 2013 by J.N.
Freeview HD does me just fine. I have a £200 Humax Hi-Def PVR. I record everything so never have to tolerate another inane TV advert.
Simples - and cheap.
John.
Posted on: 08 April 2013 by Kevin-W
I have a Samsung Freeview HD TV. I don't have a box because, using a wireless dongle I can connect to my BT Infinity and stream progs from iPlayer, ITV Player, Demand Five and 4OD.
If I want to record something, I simply stick a USB key in the back and voila!
I don't watch much TV, but the stuff I like, I really like. Otherwise the TV is mostly used for watching footy or DVDs and Blu-rays. "Mad Men", the best show ever - returns on Wednesday so getting rid of my TV isn't an option at the mo!
Posted on: 08 April 2013 by mista h
I find a lot of UK Tv is rubbish. I watch the odd selective programme,otherwise i put some music on and read. Other half can if she wants go into another room and do her own thing.
Mista h
Posted on: 08 April 2013 by PureReader
"Anyone else notice this degradation in TV quality or is it me getting old?"
... or wiser?
" How to make the psychological break from the TV?"
I did a *complete* "break" twice:
For about 2 years in my early twenties I lived with a group of young people and the collective decision was made to live without TV.
On the whole I would say it was beneficial to my life. Watching TV is one of the strongest temptations the mind can have to avoid organising a more constructive use of time. It's all too often an easy way out. It's comfortable of course. But once the decision was clear to all, we soon discovered interesting ways of using the available time and also got to know each other in a different way, closer, broader - you get to know more about the people you live with.
It seems, when one meets people during the day, all too often there has to be a glass "in between", and then, when one gets home it's the TV. The mind already anticipates that a large portion of ones attention and potential will be focused on the TV, the rest is for the social environment, the people one loves.
And there is a strong conditioning involved, which I discovered when I tried the same again a few years ago. (That first time, I was younger, it was a collective decision and no TV was connected and usable so the temptation was avoided. It was a clear cut decision with no compromise. No TV whatsoever). A few years ago I was living alone and decided to try TV-less living again. It was very difficult at first. My mind was so used to being engulfed and stimulated by the pictures, messages and content others had produced. It was happy to follow a superficial storyline with little substance, existing in a state of a mixture of passivity, and rest but with minimal constructiveness. Two things were important for me to help myself get used to TV-less living this time: Getting up very early, and being more in nature (which is not easy in a city, but luckily there is a nice meadow almost at my doorstep). So I got up at 4:00 a.m. and two to three times in the week I went out at this early hour and took a walk in the meadow. The beautiful singing of the birds, the unique peace at this early time, the lack of superficial stimuli to divert attention and agitate the mind I found to be a very pleasant experience. I think it re-conditioned my mind so that it felt more free and creative when finding interesting ideas what to do in the evenings. The evenings were obviously also shorter now.
That lasted 6 months, then was interrupted by a temporary health problem (nothing to do with lack of TV!) Well worth doing though.
I have a hunch that I slept and dreamt better during these times.
Posted on: 08 April 2013 by mutterback
Get the best possible deal on internet and phone, unplug the TV. I now just pay for what I want to watch from itunes.
Posted on: 08 April 2013 by Paper Plane
Originally Posted by mista h:
I find a lot of UK Tv is rubbish. I watch the odd selective programme,otherwise i put some music on and read. Other half can if she wants go into another room and do her own thing.
Mista h
+1
steve
Posted on: 08 April 2013 by Paper Plane
From October 1976 to July 1987 I managed quite happily without a TV. It was only when wife 2 moved in that a box came with her. Even after having upgraded to Wife 3 we still have it in the house.
Radio and music is much more enjoyable.
steve
Posted on: 08 April 2013 by Timbo
Yes I agree about Mad Men, have just finished watching series 5 on Netflix and am now recording series 6.
TV seems to be like a drug, I am let down by my own lack of will power to switch off the TV and do something else. Then I beat myself up for having wasted time that I will never get back. Hopefully when the weather gets better over here I'll try to get out a lot more.
Tim
Posted on: 08 April 2013 by DrMark
I cannot speak for the UK or other locales, but here in the USA it is a steady stream of bullsh*t & lies, designed to turn your brain into something the consistency of porridge.
Posted on: 08 April 2013 by mudwolf
I have avoided commercial TV in the US for a few years, same with commercial radio. We have a Public Broadcast Service, PBS, has great offerings to stimulate the mind instead of the awful stuff elsewhere, news shows are great discussions and interviews and BBC shows, not sound bites or Fox crap. I also have Netflix, and watch nature and history shows. iRadio at home with ND5 and Sirius in my new Focus.
I'm seriously thinking I'll limit my watching more and start evenings of reading the stack of unfinished books I have. Plus I have to get out for walks more now that my caregiving for my folks is over, that so impacted my life I stopped all exercise. I have 2 Yoga places near by and my area in LA is hilly so can get good cardio walking neighborhoods. I lack discipline and time structure, tho I'm very good with healthy food . Just had a Thai lunch on my way home so no dinner needed tonight.
Good luck on tuning out, it is good for the mind to slow down our image and constant news which creates tension. Walks with and without your wife, go to events early evenings. It is so easy to get home and veg on the couch when a walk or stretch class would be healthier. Years back when I got a job in another smaller town I knew only a few people so I took art classes at night or Saturdays. It was great fun, creative and met lots of people. Received an AA degree in 2.5 years and have pieces framed now. I was hungry for creativity.
Posted on: 09 April 2013 by Timbo
That sounds most inspiring Mudwolf. I'd like to start to get a bit more creative with my photography so that should take me out and about a bit. This morning was -13 so that is discouraging and not good for the camera! However I'm pleased that I have now sold a few prints.
Tim
Posted on: 09 April 2013 by Analogue Rules OK
Originally Posted by Paper Plane:
From October 1976 to July 1987 I managed quite happily without a TV. It was only when wife 2 moved in that a box came with her. Even after having upgraded to Wife 3 we still have it in the house.
Radio and music is much more enjoyable.
+1 for radio & music over TV.
Chris N
steve
Posted on: 09 April 2013 by Harry
Originally Posted by J.N.:
Freeview HD does me just fine. I have a £200 Humax Hi-Def PVR. I record everything so never have to tolerate another inane TV advert.
Simples - and cheap.
John.
Same here. It works. And although we don't get full F1 coverage there are no adverts to FF through, just the inane chatter before the action starts.
It's mainly BluRay and DVDs. And a little bit of PS3. Our TV does get a good amount of daily use. Apart from F1 I can (and mostly do) go days or weeks without recording or watching anything transmitted. Last thing I recorded watched and enjoyed (more than I thought I would) was The Hitmaker on BBC4.
Posted on: 10 April 2013 by Mike Hughes
The concept that modern TV is rubbish is easy enough to lay to rest. It's a ridiculous assertion. There has probably been more great tv in the past decade than in the previous 3 put together. However, the proliferation of channels does make if harder to find and much can only be found now on DVD boxed sets.
That said, I see no reason why someone should ever have to suffer adverts other than minimally. The only cultural shift required is using a PVR to record and then watch stuff at your leisure. Once you acquire the habit life is much better. I now find the opposite problem. It comes as a total shock to me when I do have to watch adverts on a live event.. My 7 year old is mesmerised by the few he seesaw he sees so few.
This does kind of relate to the newspaper thread because a world in which we do personalise our viewing is one which effectively significantly reduces the role of those papers in creating a cultural buzz around. "Tonight's TV" or "last nights TV".
I work with a colleague who abandoned TV completely over a decade ago. They recently purchased a flat screen but with the intention of only watching films on DVD. Sure enough they have cleared their backlog of great films and are now spending about 4 times as long working through boxed sets of great TV. The penny has dropped that instead of getting irate they should simply have adapted to the new world and researched what they watched a little more thoroughly.
Posted on: 10 April 2013 by Richard Dane
When my wife and I separated about ten years back, I moved a few miles down the valley to a tiny village where I found that terrestrial TV reception was poor to non-existant. I decided that as I rarely watched TV anyway, I wouldn't bother getting satellite. I got pull-down screen and projector for when I wanted to watch films or concerts via DVD, and the rest of the time I would listen to music. I have to say, I didn't really miss TV at all and in many ways life was enhanced. Only change I made was to change to a Fujitsu plasma screen (no TV tuner though) because I found myself very susceptible to rainbow effects with the projector. Took me ages though to convince the TV licensing authority that I didn't need a license - their view was that everyone has a TV so everyone needs a license unless you could personally prove otherwise.
Posted on: 10 April 2013 by mista h
Every week a go and visit a friend of mine who is spending a lot of time in St Thomases hospital in London.With his last op he was in 8 weeks and never used his overhead TV once. When i asked him why he said it was £10 for each 24 hrs regardless of how much you watched
£10 a day to watch rubbish...ouch.
Mista h
Posted on: 10 April 2013 by Hook
Watching TV can be fun if it is a planned event. Turn it into a movie date, and turn the tube off when the show is over.
Have reached the age where vegging on the couch for long periods is no longer any fun. It makes my back hurt, and it's too hard to get up afterwards.
Mom always used to preach moderation in all things. A good guideline for TV, junk food, alcohol and lots of other fun stuff that's bad for the health when overdone.
Hook
Posted on: 10 April 2013 by Bart
A big reason I put a second system (Qute based) in my upstairs tv room / man cave area is so when I am just sitting up there to relax, I can listen to music rather than having useless TV on.
There is a bit of TV I enjoy watching, although not nearly the full scope of what I pay for with a big cable package. Baseball season has just started in the US, and I enjoy watching at least part of most Red Sox games. They are nice to watch with the sound off and the Qute playing 
Posted on: 13 April 2013 by J.N.
I guess there's a TV and music parallel. Most of us here probably only like a small percentage of all available music. Same with TV. Its content is predominantly of no interest to me, but I wouldn't be without my TV and PVR for the occasional high quality dramas, films and documentaries I enjoy - and the ability to watch them when it suits me.
As I said before; I find enough on the Freeview (some in HD) channels to keep me entertained. No way would I pay a 'Sky' subscription fee.
John.
Posted on: 14 April 2013 by tonym
Much as it pains me to state, I do like the Sky system. We are both movie fans and enjoy HD content so the Sky movie channels fit the bill nicely and there are no adverts during the films.
Being fed up forking out the cost of Sky HD plus Movies I flirted briefly with Freesat via a Humax box and renting films from Lovefilm. Although the latter worked very well, the Humax Freesat box was very poor in comparison to Sky's excellent interface. I was prepared to put up with it but SWMBO got really fed up so I had to swallow my pride and slink back to Sky. I missed being able to record lots of films, many of which I maybe wouldn't consider renting but have turned out to be hidden gems. I also missed Sky Arts 1 and 2, which screen some great music concerts.
Getting back to Sky's interface, there is also the iPad/Phone/Touch App., which is nothing short of superb. It's easy to scroll through the dross & find some good content to record, which you can do over the internet. It shows what you've already got recorded and allows editing, in fact it does everything except make the tea.
Like most folk I loathe adverts so I record everything I want to watch & zoom through the breaks. Better than enduring them I suppose but it's still pretty disruptive to our viewing. Game of Thrones on Sky Atlantic is very good indeed and, having missed the first two series we bought them on BluRay and really enjoyed them. I've been recording the third series, currently being broadcast, but the constant stream of adverts is extremely distracting. The advert gaps seem to appear at random times and they vary in duration which is also annoying.
Posted on: 14 April 2013 by BigH47
Watching GoT is getting very tedious, the amount of breaks is excessive.
I too think the Sky+ system is excellent.
I can't remember the last time we watched a live TV programme probably something on BBC.
I have mailled Sky , I wonder what the reply will say? 
Posted on: 14 April 2013 by Paper Plane
"The advert gaps seem to appear at random times and they vary in duration which is also annoying. "
Which is probably a deliberate ploy as they know people record the show and zap through the ads.
steve
Posted on: 14 April 2013 by Donuk
Yes, I know I am a naive fossil, who as I have said before watches very little television.
I was amazed when I installed Sky for my elderly parents to one day be watching it with them at their house.
Suddenly some advertisements came on!
Why are we paying for this twice - you don't get advertisements when you buy a DVD of a television series, do you?
Soon to switch on the wireless and listen to Russell Davies, a great show.
Donuk, mystified, chilly downtown York.
Posted on: 14 April 2013 by Bart
Originally Posted by Donuk:
Yes, I know I am a naive fossil, who as I have said before watches very little television.
I was amazed when I installed Sky for my elderly parents to one day be watching it with them at their house.
Suddenly some advertisements came on!
Why are we paying for this twice - you don't get advertisements when you buy a DVD of a television series, do you?
Soon to switch on the wireless and listen to Russell Davies, a great show.
Donuk, mystified, chilly downtown York.
When cable tv first appeared in the States, we were "promised" commercial-free TV. Fat chance.
And yes, dvd's can be LOADED with commercials prior to the actual program material. And on some dvd's, one cannot fast forward through some of the commercials.
Posted on: 14 April 2013 by Harry
Oh god can they just! I find this offensive when you can't FF or chapter jump through this garbage. We bought a Showtime series on DVD which made us want to reach for a big hammer. The paradigm for the DVD/BR purchaser is the same as the saturated advert TV watcher. It will only change when large cohorts refuse to put their hands in their pockets - again, fat chance.
