We don't have a TV in our living room anymore. AIBU?

[mrsm43s]

So many people think its weird!

We have plenty of tvs in the house! Our bedroom, upstairs spare room, plus everyone has a tablet or a phone or a laptop or some other way of watching TV if they want to.

We don't have a tv downstairs.

AIBU to think that the days of everyone round the telebox to watch mindless crap are over?

TV itself is fine, but its OK to not make it the centre of your life and family!

It may seem outdated to you but thats still how thousands of families watch it

It's not outdated. Lots of families I know have family nights watching a film on TV. They don't just routinely do it.They choose to watch something together.
Its much better than just sitting on your own watching something although that's okay occasionally but not all the time.

Why are people so keen to let people know they don't watch too much tv or watch it in the wrong place or watch the wrong thing?

No one cares except you.
Its not a class signifier. We all know that people from all backgrounds watch TOWIE and all types of people love The Blue Planet.
Your intellect doesn't go down if people know you have a tv in your bedroom or go up if you wave vaguely towards a green baize door and declare 'Cook lets us watch hers for the Queen's Speech'.

Just watch your tv or don't.

Each to their own, personally I wouldn't want TVs in bedrooms.

It's a lot comfier sitting on the settee watching an actual TV and in the 80s and 90s it wasn't mindless viewing we had video recorders to watch what we wanted and then in the late 80s Sky to choose what we watched on that.

The only time I ever watch on my iPad is downloaded stuff in the caravan if the TV doesn't work.

I find this a bit of a closed loop tho. You never stumble across programmes you wouldn't have ever heard about. You don't dip in and out of different programmes about various things - a bit of news, a nature programme, some trivia on the one show, a history programme about canals, laughing at the colour of Micheal Portillo's trousers while he talks to strangers on a train in eastern Europe. I'd much rather watch tv like that than watch just box sets/self select on my own.

How do you know what programmes to select if you've never seen them? I wouldn't know where to start. We have had Netflix for 2 years and have only watched breaking bad and house of cards. Because we find the effort of concentrating on shows like this is only something we want to do once a week.

The people i know who only select what they want have much more limited viewing tastes than i have and have much more obsessive minds. Lots like to binge on one thing. I would find that really dull.

Well lots of people here clearly disagree with you! We use a lot of catch up services but we still use the TV in the living room to watch them.

I think watching live TV is perhaps not as popular as it used to be, but most TV's nowadays allow you to stream Netflix, Prime or catch-up.

I don't think the social aspect of shared experiences will ever become outdated. I hope not anyway!

We only have on demand services, so everything we watch has been actively chosen by someone, but we still have stuff that we enjoy watching as a family or a couple like Stranger Things, Harry P, or GoT.

I grew up in a country where you had to have a TV licence for every TV you owned and as such televisions in bedrooms were unheard of. When I came back to the UK I was horrified at the numbers of televisions in bedrooms which existed, families had three, four five televisions even for the young kids. .

Now though TBH I am more and at what people consider good viewing. Love island? Big brother? Im a celeb and the like is considered entertainment.... I do have a television in the lounge but tbh we watch so little of it that I reckon we could get rid of it and wouldn’t even notice.

I do know people who have the television on from dawn until dusk whether they’re watching it or not and I just can’t see the point. But if our tv went it would be because we don’t watch it. If I was watching a lot of programmes on a tablet or the like I do think I would use the tv for that instead.

But I don’t think it’s shocking not to have one. And tbh I get the same amount of reactions when i tell people that I don’t have a microwave.

I think it also depends on what kind of social interactions you have. There are days and days where i don't talk to anyone but my 3 young children. i like to have the tv on for adult company.

We don't have tvs in the bedrooms tho as we rarely go in there. Only to sleep. We might when the dc are older as i'd love to sit in bed watching something and eating biscuits alone. But we do have laptops etc so i'd probably just use that if the opportunity arose.

Do what works for you but I'd hate it - tv to me is a social activity whereas watching on tablets and in bedrooms seems very antisocial and isolating. We have a TV in our bedroom that acts as an alarm in the morning so dh and I wake to the news but it's never used other than that (maybe when dd has chicken pox). But that's us.

I think the vast majority of people aren’t weirded out at the thought of not owning a TV. But they find it odd to own TVs and have them in bedrooms and not in the living room.

There's nothing snobby or virtuous about watching TV on tablets, phones and laptops instead of together in the living room. It just sounds like a house of multiple occupation.

Sunshine but you don't have to watch it in separate rooms or even on separate devices Surely that's obvious? You just don't have a big ugly box dominating the room.

Where do you watch films? Not the same on a tablet or tiny bedroom tv (and big in your bedroom is naff) imo.

I'm very anti tv in the bedroom or kitchen so we wouldn't have one if it wasn't in the living room! But it's all about what works for you isn't it?

Do what you want OP, but you having loads of TVs upstairs and various other screens in your house makes TV just as much a central part of your family life as those of us who watch it in the living room.

Ajas do a family of 5 gather around a phone, or even a laptop to watch a film or series or live event or whatever?

People have a physical TV because watching socially is more comfortable on a larger screen further away.

Small screens are only comfortable for one or if it's a laptop two people, and you have to sit really close (compared to a larger screen).

Is it in case the TV license inspector knocks round?

I agree with others. A tv in the living room can bring a family together- a film night, watching a big news story break together or even some mindless entertainment sometimes.
I don't think it needs to be on constantly.

I remember in the 80's my posh set of grandparents had a special wooden cabinet that opened via remote control to reveal a screen which rose out of the cupboard. Us grandchildren weren't allowed to touch it because it was very expensive

They thought tv sets were ugly and shouldn't be "on show".

YANBU - we haven't had a TV in our bedroom since we moved into this house 3 years ago, I put my foot down about it because DH would happily have the TV on all night and it was at a point where I could have happily divorced over it.

I can't say I miss it. There's so much research about how screen time ruins our sleep he's on his phone half the night instead now though but at least that's silent!

Ohhh living room!! Ok, that's strange - it's the only room we do have one

I can't stand tv's in bedrooms so i refuse to have one in there.

^Same here

We don't have one in any room. Neither does my brother, or our next door neighbour. Televisions are not compulsory in any room or house.

ILostItInTheEarlyNineties My lovely former neighbour used to keep a folded tablecloth over hers and only take it off at Christmas

That's a shame middlingmum you're missing Love Island

Love the folded tablecloth as tv camouflage. I think that's what my grandparents used before splashing out on the special TV in a cupboard contraption.