Do you own/watch a TV?

[py_megapixel]

I've seen several people mention on here that they don't own a television, or that they never watch live TV. I thought it would be interesting to have a thread about what people have chosen to do in this respect, and why.

 

[Peter C]

I don't watch the telly (as in a device designed for showing TV broadcasts) as much now as I used to, but I suppose I watch the same amount of television content on things like iPlayer or ITV Hub. It's easier for me to use my phone for iPlayer as you can watch the broadcasts live (and BBC News tends to make good background noise).

-Peter

 

[johnnychips]

No. YouTube really has anything you want.

 

[High Dyke]

We tend to use it for listening to the radio, but do watch a lot of catch-up programmes.

 

[Gloster]

Wasn’t there a thread asking the same, or a near identical, question six months to a year ago? No, I don’t have a TV and I don’t miss it, only about four years in the last forty-three and not since 1990. I recently spent just over a year in a care home: I started binge-watching when I moved in, but after six months it was the news, Have I got News for You and the odd short on Talking Pictures. (Eating Out with Tommy Trinder. Marvellous.)

 

[prod_pep]

I haven't watched live TV at home for several years now. Every blue moon, when something genuinely worth watching comes out, I'll buy it on DVD or Blu-ray rather then watch it live. I consume no BBC content at all and strongly dislike that organisation, but will occasionally venture onto ITV's hub.

The TV I used solely for gaming gave out last month (Argos junk) and I've replaced it with a vastly superior, yet cheaper, monitor.

 

[DerekC]

I do watch some live broadcast news most days (although our digital broadcast reception is not good and sometimes use iPlayer live). I am a long term BBCophile and although they have dumbed down a lot and become much less international in their coverage on BBC1, their News24 channel is still way ahead of the opposition IMHO. Am I allowed a plug for Radio 4 and BBC Sounds? Some really good stuff on there.

 

[GB]

I have a TV but gave up on sky and TV licence last year so no longer watch live TV.

 

[Ashley Hill]

I find 90% of today's TV dull and boring. I couldn't care less for reality shows,celebrity quizzes,modern dramas or comedies. Mostly I watch Talking Pictures TV,Sky Arts,Yesterday or Quest.

 

[eMeS]

I find 90% of today's TV dull and boring. I couldn't care less for reality shows,celebrity quizzes,modern dramas or comedies. Mostly I watch Talking Pictures TV,Sky Arts,Yesterday or Quest.

That largely sums up my current TV watching. I do watch the news, and I used to watch a lot on BBC Four, but I'm now more selective.

 

[Mintona]

You guys are missing out on so much good sport.

 

[Ashley Hill]

You guys are missing out on so much good sport.

Don't really care for sport. I do watch BBC4 occasionally but tonight endured a Roger Waters concert from 2019 on Sky Arts.

 

[mikeg]

I watch occasionally. At one point I was wondering why I bother licensing the bloody thing as only watched it once every few weeks and mostly used it as a monitor for the computer behind. Then I thought, I'll get rid of the licence after the series about TPE, no after the Adam Curtis documentary. No, after the latest Michael portillo series, no after Eurovision, no after the football?!

Actually I'll keep it. The tuner went to tuner heaven in my previous hisense so my parents gave me their old Sony, which Is a 3d TV so I'm keeping it in some capacity as it's a dead format. I like having the sort of thing techmoan may review in a few years time,.and have some glasses for it too.

I would however happily save money if it was just the football and the politics as it was previously by switching to radio, I've been without a TV several times in my life and honestly didn't miss it much.

 

[Annetts key]

I watch BBC News, both national and local (regional), Channel 4 news, Have I Got a Bit More News For You, Mock the Week, Would I Lie to You, some Panorama programmes, Horizon when they do new episodes, various other documentaries, The Martin Lewis show, Taskmaster, the repeats of Yes, Minister, plus various American TV dramas, like Blue Bloods. Occasionally I watch films that are shown on TV.

Also there are some good late night programmes, like Battlestar Galactica (the remake, not the old original version).

The trouble with DVDs etc is I end up collecting them, then find I have plies of them… Hence I do try to avoid them now.

 

[Ashley Hill]

I do like Have I Got News for You but I do think that it has now drifted so far from its original format that it is now more of a comedy show rather that a satirical quiz. In another thread a poster mentioned that he'd been in the audience at one of the shows and claimed that even the ad-libs were scripted.

 

[Annetts key]

In another thread a poster mentioned that he'd been in the audience at one of the shows and claimed that even the ad-libs were scripted.

I believe that’s not uncommon for this format or for TV, radio or film in general.

 

[Mcr Warrior]

Noted that a handful of respondents have voted "I have no TV".

A question for them is, how do they avoid being hassled to despair by TV Licensing, who don't ever seem to take 'No' for an answer?!

 

[mikeg]

Always managed at uni. Just the occasional letter.

 

[eMeS]

You guys are missing out on so much good sport.

I do watch road race cycling - Tour de France and similar. Sadly, not all the commentaries are worth listening to, but that for the Tour sets a good standard.

 

[Annetts key]

Noted that a handful of respondents have voted "I have no TV".

A question for them is, how do they avoid being hassled to despair by TV Licensing, who don't ever seem to take 'No' for an answer?!

During the time that I had a property with it being unoccupied for a couple of months, I had a conversation with them. They explained that the computer system they used would automatically send out ‘reminders’ to any address (that they had on record) if a current valid license was not held, and that I should just ignore these reminders.

 

[JamesT]

I do watch road race cycling - Tour de France and similar. Sadly, not all the commentaries are worth listening to, but that for the Tour sets a good standard.

I watched a fair chunk of Le Tour last year (needed to use up leave and not allowed to go anywhere then). I did find the volume and frequency of advert breaks on ITV4 to be a bit off putting. Almost got me considering whether to fork out for a Eurosport subscription as I believe they do an ad-free stream.

 

[JohnMcL7]

I do like Have I Got News for You but I do think that it has now drifted so far from its original format that it is now more of a comedy show rather that a satirical quiz. In another thread a poster mentioned that he'd been in the audience at one of the shows and claimed that even the ad-libs were scripted.

That's one of the few programs I watch although I dislike the guest presenter and had hoped it would be temporary until they found someone permanently, I think the guest format gives it a more scripted feel since many of the guest presenters can do little more than read straight off the autocue and there's not much interaction with the panel.

The other program I've enjoyed is Richard Osman's House of Games which I've found good to have on while having food in the evening.

Other than that I don't really use TVs much (my current one was bought from Comet to give an idea how old it is) and mostly use a 12in OLED tablet on my computer desk for watching video and usually Youtube as it has the advantage that you can choose channels that fit specific interests.

 

[Gloster]

You guys are missing out on so much good sport.

‘Good’ and ‘sport’ are two words that do not come anywhere near each other in my vocabulary.

 

[D365]

Noted that a handful of respondents have voted "I have no TV".

A question for them is, how do they avoid being hassled to despair by TV Licensing, who don't ever seem to take 'No' for an answer?!

I’ve never been bothered after saying ’No’. In fact, I don’t think they wrote to me at all in my flat last year.

Note for the unwary, that you don’t need a TV licence if you’re just using it as a games/PC monitor, or for non-BBC catch-up. They do try to trip you up with that sometimes.

 

[Mintona]

I watched a fair chunk of Le Tour last year (needed to use up leave and not allowed to go anywhere then). I did find the volume and frequency of advert breaks on ITV4 to be a bit off putting. Almost got me considering whether to fork out for a Eurosport subscription as I believe they do an ad-free stream.

If you just watch regular Eurosport there are still ads, though not as many as ITV4. They use the same feed and have breaks at different times though so I flick between the two channels constantly, you don’t miss anything that way.

You can get a GCN pass to watch it all uninterrupted, using the Eurosport feed and commentary team.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 27 Jun 2021 ==

‘Good’ and ‘sport’ are two words that do not come anywhere near each other in my vocabulary.

You’ve not found the right sport yet then!

 

[PeterC]

Noted that a handful of respondents have voted "I have no TV".

A question for them is, how do they avoid being hassled to despair by TV Licensing, who don't ever seem to take 'No' for an answer?!

I only acquired a TV 10 years ago when I cleared my late mother's house. Just before that they finally put an option on the letters to say that you didn't have one. For a long time they simply failed to understand the concept.

I even had a phone call on one occasion. My response was "there is no legal requirement for me to have a television licence". He just repeated his set script so I kept giving the same answer until he started crying and transferred the call to his supervisor.

 

[Annetts key]

Part of the problem is that commercial contracted companies are actually the organisations that pester you. Wikipedia has some information here.

 

[GB]

You’ve not found the right sport yet then!

What ever you think of sport not everyone is of the same opinion.

 

[LWB]

During the time that I had a property with it being unoccupied for a couple of months, I had a conversation with them. They explained that the computer system they used would automatically send out ‘reminders’ to any address (that they had on record) if a current valid license was not held, and that I should just ignore these reminders.

My failing mother-in-law lived at a property that had three possible addresses
61 Edwardian Terrace, Rural Lane, Market Town
61 Edwardian Terrace
Market Town
61 Rural Lane
Market Town

The BBC relentlessly hounded her for all three, requiring a licence for each. With an enduring power of attorney The Post Office kindly listed the BBC as post to be blocked and so she never paid for her licence again as she never received a reminder

 

[satisnek]

Yes, I'm one of those who have no TV at all as mentioned in the other thread. I lost interest many years ago and today's TV is quite frankly alien to me.

As for licensing, I applied for a refund on my TV licence when the analog transmissions were shut down in 2011 (I never made the move to digital), rather than simply letting it lapse, and so remained on their system as a 'licence not required' property. Every three years they send me an email checking that nothing has changed. I have to use the surname that they have given me - they addressed me by my real one for the 18 years I held a licence but then it got corrupted, which speaks volumes for their levels of competence! I know I shouldn't respond to these emails because it's really none of their business, but it's just a few mouse clicks. After all, I don't have a car either, but do I receive communications from the DVLA? Or a shotgun...