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AIBU?

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Original poster

To ask if anyone dosent have a Television?

59 replies

girlfriend44 · 20/10/2022 11:39

Just wondered does everyone have a TV now and if you don't do you think your life is better for it?
What do you do instead?

OP posts:
OneTC · 20/10/2022 13:27

Figmentofmyimagination · 20/10/2022 13:07

All these people with no TV, do you get lots of threatening post from TVLicensing or do they eventually just leave you alone?

Never had one letter

iratepirate · 20/10/2022 13:41

Figmentofmyimagination · 20/10/2022 13:07

All these people with no TV, do you get lots of threatening post from TVLicensing or do they eventually just leave you alone?

I think I had one letter once. Since then I’ve done the “declaration”
every two years or whatever it is, confirming we don’t need one and they just emaIl the certificate things through each time. Never had a letter to the current address, it’s all by email.

CranfordScones · 20/10/2022 13:45

Figmentofmyimagination · 20/10/2022 13:07

All these people with no TV, do you get lots of threatening post from TVLicensing or do they eventually just leave you alone?

They tend to play nicely with you if you play their game and do the 2-year declaration thing on their website. I really think it's more common these days to not have a TV so they don't have the staff to hassle everyone who says they don't have a TV.

lakeswimmer · 20/10/2022 13:51

We haven't had one in 20 years and our DC have grown up without one. However we have a PC in the sitting room which we do watch TV on occasionally (currently GBBO). DC used to watch CBBC/ Cbeebies on it and it has a DVD drive so we sometimes watch DVDs. We all have too much screen time, it's just not TV.

Bofthebang · 20/10/2022 14:06

No tv here! We got rid of our last one when it broke, must be about 15 or so years ago. We meant to replace it but never got round to it and soon discovered that life was immensely better without it.

We read, go for walks, do our hobbies, devour cook books and practice new recipes. We do have a weakness for films so occasionally watch one on the laptop. I honestly can’t think of a single occasion when we’ve wished we had a tv - there probably have been occasions but not memorable enough for us to buy one!

mavismorpoth · 20/10/2022 14:19

Have TVs in the home but not TV signals so use Netflix and youtube for entertainment.

GrannyWeatherwaxsHatpin · 20/10/2022 14:38

I don't own a TV and haven't for a very long time. I don't miss it - I do watch programmes on my laptop/iPad but only if it's something I particularly want to watch rather than just having it on in the background permanently (which drives me nuts when I see it elsewhere!)

I read, do yoga, cook, listen to the radio, potter about, use the internet...lots of things that don't involve a TV!

I have a TV licence now but when you didn't used to need one as long as you only used catch-up, I just completed the declaration each time they asked me to. Never had an issue.

xogossipgirlxo · 20/10/2022 14:43

Figmentofmyimagination · 20/10/2022 13:07

All these people with no TV, do you get lots of threatening post from TVLicensing or do they eventually just leave you alone?

I had few letters with threats and then visit of two people. I let them in, they checked my TV and left.

mavismorpoth · 20/10/2022 14:45

Figmentofmyimagination · 20/10/2022 13:07

All these people with no TV, do you get lots of threatening post from TVLicensing or do they eventually just leave you alone?

They write to me once a month to "the occupant" threatening me with nonsense in big red letters. they just go in the bin. Five years and counting.

StridTheKiller · 20/10/2022 15:15

I don't. I paint, play my musical instduments, play with DD8 and DDog11, Excercise and do my other hobbies. I am not morally superior, there's just so much more i want and need to do! Incientally when i had a man, there were tellies involves. Men seem to love tv.

SirenSays · 20/10/2022 15:17

I know someone who has giant fish tanks instead of a TV.

Xiaoxiong · 20/10/2022 15:22

I don't, but I pay the TV licence so I can listen to the radio with a clear conscience and watch the occasional bit of live news like Liz Truss resigning on my phone on iplayer.

We still watch Netflix/films on ipads and the like, just don't have a TV or any channels. When we go to a holiday let it's so hard not to get sucked in by random programmes we happen across, like Police Interceptors or Countryfile...

Samarie123 · 20/10/2022 15:23

Got rid of the TV when the Covid BS started! Fearmongering and brainwashing.

cathcath2 · 20/10/2022 15:30

Figmentofmyimagination · 20/10/2022 13:07

All these people with no TV, do you get lots of threatening post from TVLicensing or do they eventually just leave you alone?

They came to visit. I let them in, showed them where the aerial is cut before it reaches my flat, turned the TV on so they could see it wasn't tuned (use it for watching DVDs) and answered questions about streaming services/DVDs. They have never been back. I just have to complete the declaration every two years.

Elphame · 20/10/2022 15:37

Haven't watched TV since the switch from analogue to digital. Our TV was so old it didn't have a scart socket for a box.

So we read, go out with friends, play on the internet etc. The dogs get plenty of walks and we both have hobbies we enjoy.

I don't miss TV - it's on at my parents at times when we visit and nothing I've seen there has tempted me back.

I'm another who doesn't need background noise all the time. Quiet suits me just fine.

Notcontent · 20/10/2022 15:37

I didn’t have one for a number of years and only recently got one to watch the odd movie or Netflix show on the weekend. We don’t sit down to watch tv every evening as too busy doing other things - studying, exercising, house chores…

TottersBlankly · 20/10/2022 15:40

I haven’t owned a TV this century, and before Covid probably watched two or three programmes (bought from iTunes) per month on phone or laptop. Used to be perfectly happy with radio and reading and, admittedly, far too much Internet.

Lockdown saw me gradually sign up to everything - and then there’s a compulsion to watch to get my money’s worth. I have become absolutely domestitutionalised … Something must be done - but not today, Gangs of London is on!

The more the Licence people bother me, the more determined I become never, ever to need a licence - even though streaming subscriptions are costing me a fortune.

Mentalpiece · 20/10/2022 15:45

We have a TV, or should I say my DH has a TV as it's in his mancave which I never go into.
I've never been bothered about a TV.
He has one as he loves watching sport, otherwise he doesn't watch it either.

ChagSameachDoreen · 20/10/2022 15:45

We don't have one. Never have! I don't want to be advertised at from the comfort of my living room.

Original poster
girlfriend44 · 20/10/2022 16:48

Is it free to watch I player on your laptop? Presume you don't need a licence?

OP posts:
ItsNotReallyChaos · 20/10/2022 16:54

You definitely have to have a license to watch iPlayer.

mavismorpoth · 20/10/2022 16:55

girlfriend44 · 20/10/2022 16:48

Is it free to watch I player on your laptop? Presume you don't need a licence?

No you are meant to have one but why give money to the BBC?

oopsfellover · 20/10/2022 16:58

I haven’t had a TV for 9 years. Don’t miss it at all. I watch Netflix / Amazon Prime on my laptop but mostly prefer to do other things - reading, scrolling internet and whatever else!

Applesandcarrots · 20/10/2022 17:04

ComtesseDeSpair · 20/10/2022 12:41

We have a TV but got rid of the TV package, which means there’s virtually nothing on that we ever want to watch except GBBO so it rarely gets switched on. I tend to exercise (home gym) a lot more in the evenings now rather than flop down on the sofa, which is definitely more productive. Can’t say the same for DP though!

A lot of people say they don’t have a TV but then say “we sometimes watch Netflix and YouTube on the laptop/tablet”, which just means you have a small portable television, really.

My sibling is like that.
"Oh we don't have tv, we don't need it we do other stuff" slightly superiory.
They watch everything on a pc🤷🏻 We often discuss the Netflix shows!

JaninaDuszejko · 20/10/2022 17:07

I think there's some mental gymnastics going on here, quite a few people seem to be describing set ups that I'd consider as 'having a TV' or 'watching TV'. If you are watching moving pictures with sound on a screen you are 'watching TV'.

We do have a TV and a license. 10yo DS mainly watches streaming services on the desktop in the playroom but I'd be daft to claim he doesn't watch TV. Our TV in the sitting room isn't connected to an aerial (best position for the TV is the wall furthest from the window and it seemed pointless paying to get a longer cable put in when we stream everything), still means we have and we watch a TV.

It's all better than mindlessly scrolling on your phone and I'd be more impressed by someone who has worked out how to avoid that.