Watch what you want but..............

I like what I like and he likes what he likes. We are individuals. We have a TV in two comfy rooms. He enjoys what I consider boring in one room with the dog and I enjoy mine in the other with the cats. Sometimes we will enjoy a programme we both like in the same room. I would go brain dead if I had to suffer the likes of Abandoned Engineering for any length of time.

Absolutely Jane10 separate tellies is the only way to survive

Definitely two TV's required

Seems lots of men can’t bear to be without the remote in their control.
My DH speeds through the adverts on recorded programme s, which is fine but inevitably goes too far and misses a bit of the next part. Then spends time faffing about getting it to the right it to start watching again. Might just as well watched the adverts !

My husband is obsessed with programmes about old cars and ww2. Drives me potty. There are so many on Quest. ?

DH and I have different tastes in tv viewing so we devised a system:
large TV in living room is called Screen 1 and small tv in a bedroom is Screen 2. We do go’s- and -turn’s each evening so we each get to see Progs we like on the ‘Big Screen’.
Saturday nights we always watch a film (recorded or a dvd) together that we’ve both chosen. This Saturday was “The Grand Budapest Hotel”, and we had toffee popcorn,
Almost as good as going out!

Tablet and headphones Trish

For those who can't put a second TV into another room, or don't want to (some of us actually like sitting in the same room with our other halves, watching a TV programme - but not if it is always the one they chose ) then start a quiet campaign.

Spend a week amassing data. Rule a sheet of paper into four columns. First column - date and time. Second - his progs. Third - her progs. Fourth - derogatory remarks by the other person, or the action they take (leaving the room etc.). Whenever the TV is turned on, make a note of what is watched,, when, and whose choice it was, plus the reaction of the other person - your own reaction too, of course.

After a week you will have a pattern emerging on which to base a "conversation" about how to even up your viewing hours, and also about how someone else's choices should be treated. The evidence will be in your hand, so it isn't just a whinge. Good luck!

Witzend if your friend has Sky, she could download the Sky app onto her Smartphone. It links then to the Sky box and becomes a remote. If her OH is watching/sleeping through the Sky box she can change channels, go to planner record etc through the phone. Also works if you are in another room - great fun to change an action film over to QVC for a wind up. (OH does see the funny side now).

OP doesn’t need TV in other/spare room. Her OH does
Mine has been introduced to the fact he can use his iPad for catch up, Netflix etc.
He dominates our only TV as is so when there is something I really want to watch then he doesn’t mind. Currently the Hay Festival Digital.
He decided though to watch one event with me - revelation, he knows loads about Greek Mythology, Troy and so on which I never knew! Sorry digression but it does show that there are things you could both enjoy ? BTW my OH likes The Chase - I have to leave the room.....

SueW11 that’s my DH too and I also know far more about the American Civil War than is necessary.
I put his programs on to record via my phone, then as soon as he dozes off I flick over to something I like. Since I’ve been doing jigsaws again TV bothers me less.

A close friend’s dh invariably had control of what to watch, and the TV remote. He would sit on his throne (the only really comfortable chair in their sitting room) with the remote firmly grasped in his hand.

He would frequently nod off, but if anyone tried, however gently, to remove the remote, his grasp would tighten to an iron grip!
When staying there I would often fake tiredness and go early to bed (where there was a TV in the room ?) since the programmes he liked were so often ones I’d never choose in a month of Sundays.

Although I think I watch more of my programmes, he does watch his as I do my jigsaw, colouring. Chat to friends and family. But the evenings we try to find something we both like, thank goodness for Netflix. We can always find something on there to watch

It must have been a day for watching tv hassles. I usually let my OH watch endless repeats practically on a loop, but between 7-9pm he goes into his shed and I get the controls. He came in at 8.45 and moans at me for watching BGT which was nearly finished. I didn't like the last act so looked for something else that he would like too. He didn't like anything so I put on the last bit of a Queen concert. He storms off 'to have a bath', makes rude comments to me later on and hasn't spoken to me since. He also hasn't moved from the sofa since then, watching endless repeats of Father Brown. I was word perfect in them before this too! This is why I usually stay in another room on the computer, and he thinks I'm unsociable.

You are not alone, I don't see the remotes all evening, awkward when Mrs S falls asleep and "hides" them. Our TV doesn't seem to have channels above 5. We never watch dramas, "we watch and like" Sewing Bee, Pottery great throwdown etc worse is X Factor, if I never saw or heard any of them again, happy. As to separate TV's, Mrs S doesn't like that idea. Back to Youtube subscriptions and headphones.

Never understood why people have to watch same programs together. Why on earth would he want to watch a sewing program,no more than you’d like sport or car program. Just get another tv... much easier peaceful happier way of life.

One of the upsides of living alone is that I can watch whatever I like. Yippee!

We have one tv, my husband has the remote but he will flick through the Chanel’s and ask me if I see anything I like. If I know something is coming on I particularly want to watch I will let him know. If he is watching something I am not interested in I play my iPad or watch a movie on it. I would not go in another room, we like to spend our evenings together.

My OH is a fanatical sports watcher, also anything to do with house buying or fixing up old cars so he has a tv in the conservatory. He also watches comedies, none of which I find funny.
We can still wave or speak to each other from our separate rooms and occasionally watch something together.

My husband tends to control what we watch on tv. I like quiz shows such as Richard Osman's House of Games, University Challenge and Only Connect. I watch those and he goes and reads or does something else while they are on. I have got him interested in Sewing Bee, to which he remarks, "why am I watching this".
He likes travel shows, and those interminable railway journeys. He also watches all the gardening shows, (I dont mind those).

Mine puts what he wants on, watches it for 5 or 10 minutes, then goes and makes a 'phone call... The 'phone calls typically last anything from 15 minutes to an hour. Doesn't bother me any more.

We used to both watch together for years, but our tastes are very, very different. His are endless Startrek, aircrash investigations (often just before a holiday abroad!) and how it's made, or similar. I would often sit and read at same time.

Then he wanted a new flat screen TV, so I laid claim to the old fashioned TV. We went mad and paid for 2 rooms on Sky so I can record all "my" programmes. We are lucky and have a small second sitting room, but if not I'd use a bedroom. I just love having my own choices. Wonderful. He'll say if there's something we'd both like, so we both watch together still occasionally.

However on lockdown I am watching less, as there is not much that appeals. I get Netflix on my laptop thanks to my son, and do other things.

[Lyndylou] I like your system. We don't have any 'habit' execpt that by 9 we just want something to relax. So if we can't find a drama/comedy we fancy its out with the old DVDs. (Blot on the Landscape at the moment).

I got Sky go on my phone so i can sit in my room and watch what I want. Any time I watch the tv in the living room I get snarky comments on my progs. When his progs annoyed me I used to just leave the room

My DH has spent more time watching WW2 programs than the war was on for.
I'm sure I don't need to say more.