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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

to think that watching tv is a dying activity?

45 replies

manicinsomniac · 01/03/2015 17:26

I saw one of those things on facebook that remind you of a certain number of unforgettable facts about your childhood etc. It was listing popular tv programmes of the 90s and I was nodding my head and recalling every one. Even those I didn't watch I knew about. And I was an active kid who did a lot of extra curricular stuff after school. TV was just a part of my culture growing up.

For children (and adults) now I just don't see it. I can't remember the last time my tv was on. I have no idea what programmes are current. I don't hear children discussing tv programmes in the classroom. Children seem to be either busy or playing computer games/on their devices. I don't hear colleagues talking about what they watched last night. I'm not sure I even know many people below around 50 who watch the tv at all.

I'm wondering if television, in its traditional form, is dying out? Whenever I phone my mum (age 60) the first thing she says is 'let me turn the tv down'. It's always on. When I ask her what she's watching it's frequently nothing. She just has it on for background noise. I don't think people in the generations below ever do this.

I'm not saying I don't watch things, I do. But it's always a film, a boxset or a Netflix series during a school holiday rather than something that's on tv regularly.

What do you think? Do you have a tv? Is it ever on?

OP posts:
EatShitDerek · 01/03/2015 17:27

This reply has been deleted

Message withdrawn at poster's request.

SuburbanRhonda · 01/03/2015 17:29

Strangely enough, I've just started watching TV again after DD left for uni.

Sometimes I even watch programmes at the scheduled time Shock

KellyElly · 01/03/2015 17:30

Everyone i know watches TV!

fairgame · 01/03/2015 17:30

TV is constantly on in my house. I have tinnitus and have it on for background noise. I have 'my programmes' that i like to watch like corrie and eastenders and a few others. I don't have much of a social life though so i enjoy watching tv. DS isn't so bothered and prefers his tablet to the tv. I'm 30 so not old (i hope) and DS is 10.

rosierainbow1 · 01/03/2015 17:34

Really? I would say most people I know have their tv on the vast majority of their awake hours if they are in. When do you ever turn up around someones house and the tv is off?

fattymcfatfat · 01/03/2015 17:35

my tv goes on for the morning news as DS gets ready for school, then for jk, then it goes off until 7 unless the monsters want to watch something, which is rare as DD is only 14 month and DS prefers to read.

lolbeansansalad · 01/03/2015 17:35

I think you might be right. Soaps are probably watched mainly by older people. We don't need the tv to get the news/weather now it's all online. Reality shows, sports and live tv such as 'this morning' are the only things we would watch on actual tv now, in the evenings it's mainly netflix or just surfing the net. We have all the sky channels but barely flick through them anymore.

DamselNotInHerDress · 01/03/2015 17:35

TVs are often on here, we have 3!
My family were all big on TV when I was growing up, they were constantly on from waking to sleeping. I don't have mine on as much as that but it definitely gets watched every day, mainly in the evenings. I'm not a TV watcher in general, love the bakeoff though.
Dp normally sticka a film or boxset on during the evenings but watches the news first thing and sport at the weekends.
Most people I know similar in age to me (30) also watch TV!

thatstoast · 01/03/2015 17:36

I think the way in which we watch TV is changing but TV shows are more popular than ever. Netflix etc is still TV, really.

mrsschatzepage · 01/03/2015 17:36

I could watch tv for hours when i was a child. Now I only watch it occasionally when there is something i really want to see on there. Cant watch channel four as their ad breaks seem to go on forever and they advertise the same programme in every ad break which is v annoying. Used to have bbc news channel on all the time but find the news depressing. Have been watching box sets lately. Watched preston front from the nineties recently which was so well written and different makes a change from today's offering which is all crime /medical dramas and unfunny sitcoms.

DamselNotInHerDress · 01/03/2015 17:39

Rosie none of my ils (mil, 3sils) would ever watch TV during the daytime!
They read, play instruments, listen to a lot of radio, play games, do loads of things but in the 13 years I've known them and been calling round, the only 1 time there has been a TV on was when her family had all gone out and my niece was catching up with them Kardashians - so odd to me and a complete contrast to my upbringing.

WhenMarnieWasThere · 01/03/2015 17:40

TV is on all the time here. DH likes it as background noise. I wouldn't say that I watch TV, even though it's always on and I'm on the same room - usually reading or on the laptop.

Sallystyle · 01/03/2015 17:41

I watch the soaps, Holby, Casualty, Call the midwife, goggle box and The Voice/ X Factor.

I will occasionally find something else to watch but I'm not a big TV watcher. I happily managed without a TV for a few years.

Most people I know watch a lot of TV. I don't think it is a dying activity at all. My kids prefer watching things on youtube and netflix though.

Sallystyle · 01/03/2015 17:44

I hate TV on as background noise. I love sitting with nothing on. After watching a programme I can't wait to turn it off.

My husband mostly has music on and I have learned to switch off. I much prefer no background noise, unless my kids are arguing.

rosierainbow1 · 01/03/2015 17:44

Look at the fuss over who killed Lucy Beale. Then with children they all know the characters off all the channels.

happybubblebrain · 01/03/2015 17:51

I love TV, I like watching documentaries, talk shows, reality TV and films. I watch it about 3 or 4 evenings a week. DD watches a bit, but she prefers to watch films on DVD. We both love to watch things on YouTube.

FromSeaToShining · 01/03/2015 17:53

I don't like having TV on all the time. I find I can't turn it on in the mornings at all, probably due to early training. Smile My mother never allowed us to switch the TV on before school, so watching TV in the daytime feels a bit odd for me. But I certainly watch it in the evenings.

Nearly everyone I know watches TV. I don't really make any distinction between broadcast TV and Netflix or whatever, though. It's the same thing as far as I'm concerned.

I do remember fondly the days when everyone used to watch the same shows at the same time. There was something nice about feeling part of a larger cultural moment. But of course, it's much more convenient to choose when one wants to watch something.

pieceofpurplesky · 01/03/2015 18:01

Your staff room must be very different to mine then! Constant chats about Bake Off, Master Chef, Big Brother (only the celeb one), Jungle .... The list is endless. Not everyone watched everything but most watch some form of TV every night and the teenagers I teach all watch TV .... Especially soaps like Eastenders and Holkyoaks. They also love stuff like The Walking Dead. Lots also watch TV via box sets on Netflix. The difference is when we were kids there were four channels and everyone watched the same things - now there are 100s of channels (and often nothing on any of them).
Personally I read and listen to music but love some shows - casualty, Call the Midwife, Downton, Walking Dead etc.

cardibach · 01/03/2015 18:05

I get a bit confused by people who 'don't watch TV' but use Netflix, iplayer etc. - still TV! There aren't so many 'water cooler' programmes now as there is so much choice, but they still crop up -Broadchurch, Wolf Hall etc.

Breezy1985 · 01/03/2015 18:09

I couldn't even tell you the last time our tv was on, I prefer listening to music in the day, then once the dc are in bed I read/mn etc, if I really want too watch something I use on demand/showbox.

Both dc 9 & 10 have a tv in their bedroom but that's only used for minecraft on the xbox, they're not even set up to watch tv.

EveBoswell · 01/03/2015 18:13

I live alone and like to hear another voice during the day ......

Original poster
manicinsomniac · 01/03/2015 18:16

that's the thing seatoshiningh - Netflix is still tv of course but it isn't the same. It doesn't give us the same shared experiences. There's so much to choose from that people don't talk about the same programmes the way they did when we were young. You sum it up perfectly here: There was something nice about feeling part of a larger cultural moment. But of course, it's much more convenient to choose when one wants to watch something. In my experience, tv has evolved into something totally different to what we used to think of as tv watching.

rosie - I think we must know very different children. I don't know who Lucy Beale is and never hear the kids in my classes talking about tv. They're all talking about minecraft or horseriding or something.

OP posts:
skyeskyeskye · 01/03/2015 18:24

most people I know watch tv. these past couple of weeks, my facebook was awash with comments on the night of the Lucy Beale flashback, and also last week when the Brits was on. You knew exactly what everybody was watching! Also Broadchurch, X Factor, The Apprentice, all shows that people watch and comment on.

I tend to watch prerecorded stuff on Sky+ most of the time and also download stuff from Sky box sets etc

I dip in and out of the soaps depending on the storylines. I record a lot of films and watch them depending on what mood I am in.

My DD age 7, loves Disney Junior and all the Disney films.

dalmatianmad · 01/03/2015 18:24

I tend to have the radio on when I'm at home and sometimes don't even bother with the TV in the evenings, if I didn't have the dc I probably wouldn't have a TV!

rosierainbow1 · 01/03/2015 18:27

Mine talk about the lot. Dd 7 likes moviestarplanet, bin weevils (gone off that a bit now), and friv. She knows all the telly as does the 2 year old. We watch music channels, radio on sky, disney and nick, otherwise I plug my ipod in the speakers and we listen to music.

The children I know all keep up with all the latest computers, apps and tv. They do watch netflix as well of course