How much time do you spend watching TV?

[David Larsen]

I heard a statistic that the average person will have spent a total of 9 years in front of a TV by the time they are 64 years old.

I don't watch a lot of TV, but I know a lot of people that do.

How much could we accomplish in the shop if we spent 9 years there instead of in front of the TV. I would think that getting that kind of experience would allow any one of us to produce museum quality pieces.

I would like to look back on my life and have something to show for it rather than just being able to say "I watched every episode of _________".

p.s. I think I would have to mortgage my house to buy 9 years worth of wood. lol

[Leo Voisine]

On average I would guess I watch TV about 4 hours per week.

Most of the time the TV is not even turned on.

We do not have cable TV - by choice

We do have netflix streaming

[Gary Hodgin]

We have the tv or radio on a lot more than we watch or listen to them. I'd say an average of about 2 hours a day watching tv and a couple of hours listening to radio. Less time on weekends unless it's football season. We (wife and I) listen to a lot radio sports call-in (hardly any music and no political talk). I actually spend more time listening to radio (2 hrs home to work and work to home) than watching tv. I'd hate to think how much time I spend with the tv, radio, and messing on the computer combined. Probably about half my life. I guess that's not a good thing, but it's what I'm doing.

[Mike Null]

I watch a couple of mysteries, Antiques Road Show once in awhile and football--no daytime tv and no radio at all. My work involves the computer so I am on it many hours a day.

[Scott Flamm]

As a child I used to watch a fair amount of TV. I'm not sure how much but basically my brothers and I would run around outside playing in the woods or at the park until we got tired and then come in and watch TV. Now as an adult I don't watch Tv except for movies. Like Leo my family doesn't have cable (we would rather spend our money elsewhere) but we do have Netflix streaming. So when a good movie comes out on Netflix we will watch it. Although, some of the time that I used to spend watching Tv has been replaced with surfing the internet like SMC:D.

[David Helm]

TV wasn't even available till I was 13. In those days (round screen, black and white) with only 2 channels available we spent evenings as a family watching the new toy. These days, the only thing I watch is baseball, and that not very much. There is too much else to do in life to spend it vegging out in front of a flickering light tube.

[Gary Max]

No cable but we do have a Blue ray player----------1 hour a day. Eat dinner in front of the TV, just finished watching "House"

[bob svoboda]

News and some football. Maybe an hour per day avg. Usually pickin' the guitar while I'm watching.

[Walter Plummer]

Not as much as I used to. Now I spend most evenings checkin email and reading user forums. Sawmill Creek first of course. ;)

[Gary Hodgin]

I hope this is still within the spirit of the thread. About 2 years ago my wife and I took one of my daughters, her husband, and three kids to a state park in Tennessee for a weekend.

We stayed in a "primitive" cabin that had electricity and water, but no tv, radio, or internet service. I can't remember if it had a land line phone (think it did), but cell service was terrible. The weekend felt like a month, particularly to the adults. Seemed the kids (ages 3, 6, and 8 at the time) adjusted better. I missed tv service mostly but the other adults missed internet and cell more. I'd never miss cell service though.

[glenn bradley]

Like Gary, I have no cable (you spend how much to watch commercials!?!) dish or antenna. I have probably watched about 20 hours of TV per year for the last 15 years or so if you don't count DVD's or other purposely planned watching media ;-) I have so much more to do . . .

[Bryan Morgan]

Don't know really... I can't just sit and stare at the TV. I'm usually doing something else at the same time. I'm watching the NASCAR race even as I type this... Actual uninterrupted TV time is maybe 1 or 2 hours a week, maybe a little more if we decide to watch a movie.

[Ron Jones near Indy]

Actually watch TV? Not very much. News in the evening usually is about it except for pro and college football and college basketball. Sometimes I enjoy HGTV, DIY or woodworking shows Having it on is another story. I need noise, TV or radio or internet radio or stereo on all the time. LOML would like total silence 24/7. I on the other hand start climbing the walls after 10 minutes of total silence. I may have no idea of what is going on--but I want it on. Crazy huh?

[Steve Griffin]

I don't have the attention span for TV.

Sitting there idle with no interaction with the content other than switching channels is hard for me. Not to mention the commercials which are so dumbed down they are an insult anyone who completed first grade.

We do like to catch a few minutes of local news, but head to the bedroom before the endless couch and big truck commercials ...

-Steve

[Mike Cutler]

Zero.

I don't own a TV and haven't had one in the house since '84. Even then we just watched MTV.

I'd say the last time I actually "watched " TV was '78, before I went in the Navy, at my parents house.

[Jeff Nicol]

Well I may be one of the worst offenders of the TV watchers! My day starts at about 3-4 a.m. depending on how my worn out body feels and there is no use staying in bed any more. So I turn it on in the morning when I am reading the paper for a while, now it is off and I have been on the computer for an hour and a half checking and replying to e-mails and forums. During the day I may watch a little news at lunch time to see what is happening and for some cover noise. As the day progresses I may only last to 2pm if my back and tore up shoulders allow me to, then I am in the lazy boy with heat on my back and ice packs on my shoulders, and the TV is on. I have the laptop on also checking Craiglist for goodies and freebies! But when the pain meds kick in I most times fall asleep with 2 little dogs and the laptop in my lap! I must gleen information from the electronics as I sleep, for I feel so much more intelligent when my wife wakes me up for dinner! I do have a few favorites that I like to watch like House, Bones, Holmes on Homes (Canadian fellow who helps home owners out after bad contracting or failed home inspections) fun show to watch! Then I like to watch a gold prospecting show on Saturday mornings. We do have cable and it can be a bit crazy with all the options available, but my wife is forced to be in bed many days all day long with her severe pain and she loves to watch the old movies and our high speed internet is in the package too. I guess since we don't drink or go out to the tavern or other things that cost money it is our only "VICE"

So the answer for me is about 4 hours a day, during a 16-17 awake, half asleep day, but always informative or for fun and relaxation! We are all cursed with the availablity fo technology, for 25 years ago we would not know each other at all!

Happy mothers day to all the moms and grandmothers,

Jeff

[Flint Miller]

It's encouraging to see so many people have their TV usage under tight control (although it would be even more so if we knew these were all teenagers who responded!) I never watched any TV until I was about 16-- my folks wouldn't allow one in the house-- and never owned a set until I was about 40. Was pretty much brought up to make your own stuff, including entertainment, and I'm betting that's how it was with most who've replied on this topic.

Now, about 45 minutes of a movie during dinner with my equally TV-resistant wife is about all I can handle, then it's go saw up something, or pick a banjo tune.

[Brian Elfert]

All I'll say is I watch way too much TV. It is good that the broadcast TV season is ending so I'll be recording fewer shows over the summer. Everything I watch is recorded on DVR. I never just turn on the TV to channel surf. I also never have the TV on as background noise. I'm either watching it or the TV is off.

When I was growing up there was a long period when we had no TV as it broke and my parents choose not to repair it or buy another. My parents finally got a 13" color TV from my grandparents to watch the 1984 summer Olympics. The year I went off to college my parents broke down and bought a new 21" TV and got basic cable TV. (The cable TV was only the broadcast networks.)

[Larry Frank]

I understand Jeff and I too watch a lot of TV especially when my back and other body parts are hurting too much. The TV tends to get my mind on other things and do not think about the pain. I also read a lot averaging about two books a week (I read fast).

I spend as much time as I can in my shop but at some point, I just need to rest.

[Jim Rimmer]

I watch too much but I do enjoy it. Wheel of Fortune while eating dinner. LOML and I watch some British comedies and mysteries plus Masterpiece Theater (PBS has a great English cop show cold New Tricks about retired cops solving old cases, funny and good - but i digress). I watch Ask TOH and Tommy Mac and a few History Channel shows now that they are finally done with Hitler - American Pickers, Swamp People. I watch very few network shows but do really enjoy Big Bang Theory. I guess I'm a child of the 50s when we were entranced with the new toy.

[Bob Riefer]

I'd say that between shows for the kids, sports, and the few shows my wife likes to keep track of, the TV is on for 3 hours per day at my place. In terms of actively watching it while it's on? Probably closer to 30 minutes between all of us - the kids play while watching, the wife and I talk while it's on in the background, or I'll listen to the game while working in the shop.

[Neal Clayton]

I heard a statistic that the average person will have spent a total of 9 years in front of a TV by the time they are 64 years old.

I don't watch a lot of TV, but I know a lot of people that do.

How much could we accomplish in the shop if we spent 9 years there instead of in front of the TV. I would think that getting that kind of experience would allow any one of us to produce museum quality pieces.

I would like to look back on my life and have something to show for it rather than just being able to say "I watched every episode of _________".

p.s. I think I would have to mortgage my house to buy 9 years worth of wood. lol


yeah but if you spent that 9 years working you'd curse yourself later for not doing something else that was more fun when you were able. everyone can get what they want, but everyone can't get everything they want. there's a difference ;).

that said, i watch less than an hour of TV a day. the 60 minutes type news shows, football in the fall. otherwise i watch the particularly good shows on the premium channels (the wire, band of brothers, dexter, etc.). they're typically an hour a week as well.

and yes if i had looked back on my life and had never watched band of brothers or the wire, i would have missed out on something.

tv can be a high form of art, or it can be 'biggest loser'. there's good and bad like everything else.

[Jim Becker]

We watch very little "TV"...I record American Idol (because we're out on Wednesday nights) and we watch both nights' shows on Thursday evening. We record and watch Burn Notice when it's "in season". I record and watch a few horse related pieces and an occasional special program. Otherwise, it's just GMA and the local news in the morning. What little other time we spend in front of the TV in the media room is watching something from NetFlix or an occasional "nature" program on one of the various HD channels that serve up that kind of thing.

The girls are rarely allowed to watch TV and also have limited time with DVD material.

[Zach England]

I watch a lot of college football and baseball and a fair amount of NFL, but it is relatively rare that I am sitting in front of the TV watching it. I usually watch it either in the shop or while working at my computer. I especially like baseball in the shop during summer. I'd say I take in about three hours of baseball a day in the summer, but mostly while working on other things. Saturdays during fall the TV is on most of the day, but I usually turn it off for a bit during the lull between the afternoon and evening games to take a break from the noise.

[David Drickhamer]

I probably fall asleep in front of it about an hour a night.

[Bill Cunningham]

As it turns out, the TV is a major 'heating' source for our house, we supplement it with a 3 stage furnace and heat pump. There is just my wife and I, so I'm Monday, Wednesday, and Friday Evenings, my Wife is Tues. Thurs. and Saturday. We battle it out for Sunday! But I find I can read, use the computer if needed, and even sleep while watching. It's an acquired skill ! Look See! It's Tuesday, and I'm on the creek, and my wife is sleeping through something right now!

[Dennis Peacock]

We watch zero TV. No Cable, No Satellite, and No antenna. We get one NetFlix movie per week and that's as much as we do. We feel that family, friends, and general community is far more important than what "the media" wants us to know, understand, believe, and act like. We'd much rather be "ourselves" and have good morals, good work ethic, have trust in other people, and always look for the good in people. You'd be surprised how much better your kids are once you get them away from TV. ;)

[Zach England]

What did I do all spring and summer before I was able to watch eight baseball games on one screen?

[Kevin Gregoire]

well, since im retired and i have insomnia and i have two dual tuner tivos i do a LOT of recording!
and since i skip through commercials that takes 20 minutes out of an hour show and 10 or so from a half hour show.
i watch on average 12 to 20 shows daily.

[Larry Edgerton]

Zero, Nada, Zip, The big Goose Egg.

[alan whitehead]

I watch approximately 7 hours of TV a day, it is a great time filler for me. I think its not the hours of TV you watch, but rather what you watch. Some of these sitcoms that people watch is dummying down America rapidly. You can see the results in jury verdicts, elections, lazy people trying to get on disability. People watch sitcoms and try to emulate the stars and their actions. Like someone said earlier, TV can be a good or bad thing in your life. PS, I don't watch a single sitcoms.