Is your TV on all the time and do you turn out of when you have visitors?

[ettieb]

When I was younger my mother would have the TV on all the time... if she was awake the TV was on. I'm not the same... the TV is never on in the day and only in the evening if we want to watch something specific. This is in no way a stealth brag...I spend hours faffing about watching tik tok and playing games on my phone. I was watching a tik tok video yesterday and there was a lovely family reunion in someone's house and the massive TV was blaring in the background... quite spoilt the moment! Also when we visit my MIL she never turns the TV off and I find myself completely zoning out of the conversation and watching something I would never usually watch... like one of those police or ambulance programmes...I then get completely engrossed in the programme and then miss bits cos I have to rejoin the conversation!

Tv only on in the evening (unless something like Wimbledon is on). But I do have Radio 4 on most of the time. But when I have guests I change it to music or off.

@Xrays why is reading or listening to audiobooks funny? They were genuine questions. I didn’t realise people kept their televisions on all day.

Doesn’t usually go on until about 7pm here, not at all if we have guests.

I have it on for background noise.

My DC takes over to watch their shows/youtube

When they are in school, the tv is off. I love the silence.

We only have 1 TV. I have been berated before for not having TV's in the kids bedroom. That isn't going to happen.

I have it on a lot, I like the background noise. I turn it off or down very low though if I have visitors.

I made a new acquaintance once, she invited me round for the evening to spend the evening with her and her husband, and made a point of saying she wanted me to meet her husband as we have a hobby in common. It was bizarre. I got there and after 10 minutes of chat she whacked the TV on and declared she really wanted to watch a particular show, so we all sat in silence and watched it, and then she just switched to a different show. The budding friendship did not last beyond that night.

I have the radio on all day every day. I only hear it if I'm in the kitchen. The TV is on maybe 4-5 evenings a week, but usually onlyfor 2-3 hours whilst watching something. I don't really follow anything on TV, but a bit of Netflix. So I guess it's on 10-15 hours per week. Sounds like quite a lot actually.

Mine is usually on - it's the main "screen" thing I do (rather than watching TikTok's like you mentioned) but I turn it off when I have guests over, unless the nature of the visit is that we might want to relax and watch something together.

During the day it's usually kids tv and and during the evening I am usually watching things.

Because books and audiobooks aren't inherently a more worthy thing to do than watching television - they're pretty similar yet people treat them like they're "better".

I haven't done much reading in years as during the day my DCs would just keep pulling the book out of my hands and in the evening I'm with my DP and we do things together so it feels antisocial. But I shouldn't need an excuse really. Books are not "better" than watching TV (unless you're in the process of learning to read and need help.)

Our TV is rarely on but if we had visitors over definitely turn it off and give then full attention

Personally, no, because I listen to radio/music/podcasts more and it would be annoying to have the TV clashing with them. But it doesn't bother me to visit people who do have the TV on all the time, as long as the volume is down.

It drives me crazy to be trying to talk with any loud volume - radio/TV/music in the background, and I've always been like this, so it's not just an age thing. It was such a relief to get too old to be chatted up in clubs, when I could never hear anything that was said 😀

I'm like you. It irritates me. I watch casualty and those four part itv dramas and that's it. Family film night every week or so.

I'm a childminder and the kids gave up asking me to put the tv on long ago 😂

I have mine on all day mainly to drown out the sound of the kid next door screaming in the garden most of the day. I don't sit and watch it much, just better background noise than a three year old's screams

I like having calming music as white noise during the day, so that's why my TV is mostly on. I have youtube unlimited (and the youtube app on my TV) so have a few 3+ hour instrumental audio videos on loop. The sound is turned down though - if you've had a massage/facial in a spa, you'll know what I mean!

Radio on in the kitchen all day, music on my phone when in the bath/shower. TV goes on at the end of the day when it's time to settle down.

I like to have the TV on in the background. I live alone and the silence can become deafening.

'I do home visits as a teacher and you’d be amazed how many people don’t switch off the TV. I have to shout over it.'

I used to do home visits in my old job and I think every house I ever went into had the telly on ☺️ I always asked them to please switch it off, and they always did without complaint. You're discussing important stuff, you need to be able to hear each other and not be distracted

They really are. Well, not audiobooks necessarily, but even reading some dimwit footballer ghosted autobiography is going to engage more active cognitive processes than tv.

Never on in the background and never when there are visitors. I hate background noise.

tv only goes on when I sit down with a plan to watch something in particular, usually at about 9pm

It's a constant battle in our house.

I only put the TV when I sit down to watch it . Sometimes it's only for 20 minutes while I have a cuppa between chores.
DH will come in from outside, turn the TV on leave the room and go into the kitchen and turn the radio on. So we end up with competing noises.

My parents turn it off for visitors but generally they pretty much always have the news on. Kind of like just having the radio on in the background.

Hell no. My mother thought it was the height of decadence to have the tv on before 5pm.

I am always really shocked if I visit someone and they don’t turn the tv off.

We always turn the telly off when we eat our evening meal at the table.

We don’t have means to watch broadcast tv so we only put it on to watch something on streaming.

Like a PP when I did home visits for school there was only one house that turned the TV off.

When I’m home alone I have radio 4 on in every room.

Bit of both. I may sometimes put it on for background noise if I'm the only person home and I'm doing something else, same way as sometimes it's the radio or a podcast in the background. I would turn it off if someone came round though.

Only when it's being watched. I hate it on for background noise, I'd rather have the radio or a podcast on or something.