Reasons for having/not having a TV?

I too cannot bear too much noise in the house; I occasionally catch up on Radio 4 (to which I was addicted when I commuted) but don't like anything on all the time.
We didn't have a TV when the children were young either, but I have to say that, at 6.00 in the morning with two small boys under three, I would have truly welcomed CBeebies!
Only noise here at the moment is DH snuffling and coughing - touch of man-flu going on!

Good for you mishap if you enjoy it go for it,we have a TV in the lounge fitted on the wall as apartment is not that big we do not have it on during the day but are selective as to what we watch of an evening,I can also watch programmes from my PC through my TV if they are not on any of the channels that we can get.We also have a small TV in the bedroom which was bought as a present when I was confined to bed when I was not to well but it is never on,but can't get rid of it as it was bought by DS1 and his partner for me .

We do have TV - a large one - mainly because my OH loves it. And we also have a home cinema!

There are some splendid programmes which I thoroughly enjoy. Summer with all the proms concerts is magic for me - a live concert in my living room, with brilliant camera work that focuses in on the relevant instruments - it is in some ways better than seeing/hearing a concert live. I just love it!
And there are some good programmes on Sky Arts - concerts, documentaries on artists, poets, composers - also BBC 4 is good for this.

All have been godsend to OH whose health is not great and he loves it all, so I would not be without it.

Home cinema is wonderful for sharing an evening with neighbours and friends watching a good film.

We cannot get iplayer because we live in the middle of nowhere and the download speed is too slow.

Of course there is garbage on TV, but it is just a question of being selective and enjoying the splendid programmes that are there and ignoring the dross.

I knit and crochet while I watch and find it very restful and uplifting.

We also have an ipod that is stacked with all the music we posses, and we put it on shuffle - we have a selection of anything from classical to folk, from blues to Beatles and they all appear in random sequence - it is a joy!

My parents had tv in 1951 and it was all lights out and shush. I brought 3 children up without one (they were at the Steiner school and so most teachers and children didn't have one either) they did visit friend with tv's but mostly we had such busy lives and they invented their own games and developed their individuality. I did get a portable when I retired as I no longer had much money to be going out. Socialising, quizzes etc. if you haven't got tv you can't join in most of the conversations or answer the questions. I seek out people like myself but they are few and far between. As I get less mobile it will be watched more.

There used to be characters, now there are so many copies of celebraties.

Glammamama, it wouldn`t work, he has a supply in his cupboard in the same room!

numberplease take the batterie's out of the remote ?

I like having a TV, but only watch what I`m really interested in, which has applied for years with all our family, I can`t abide the thought of having it on all day as background noise. But since my husband retired last year, and doesn`t have to get up early anymore, he`s suddenly become addicted to late night TV, and often sits up until 3 or 4 in the morning, just channel hopping, I don`t think he ever sees a programme or film in it`s entirety! It`s particularly annoying for our daughter, who is disabled and sleeps downstairs in what used to be the "front room", as she can hear it and can`t get to sleep.

Just happened on this old thread and it brought back memories of car journeys years ago when our 2 ch'n were young teenagers.
It was in the days of cassettes and on long journeys we took it in turns to choose what was played, one 20 min side of a cassette at a time.
H would choose rousing choral works eg Hallelujah Chorus, D would choose something unusual like Marc Almond or The Cure and S always chose something raging and, to me, discordant, like Nirvana. All three insisted that playing them quietly ruined the effect!
My choice? 20 mins with absolutely no music. They thought, and still think, that this was a major cop-out. I thought, and still think, it was bliss!

So true,lovely people,the constant unnecessary noise is so distracting.We "gave up" telly about 4years ago.Best thing we ever did!I do love my radio though,but still need to be selective.Classic F.M. is good,so relaxing.

Baggy

GA, we are definitely twins! I could have written your last with one difference: I'm musical but I still can't think straight if there's background music, possibly because I need to listen to it which requires concentration so I can't focus on something else. I can do several household chores/tasks alongside each other (multi-_doing_), but I can't multi-think, and if there's constant noise coming out of a radio or tv I can't even do chores without finding myself feeling frazzled. It's rather a nuisance really, given how most people don't seem to mind constant background noise, but I know I hear a lot of "little life noises" that most people are totally unaware of, just because I allow my ears and mind to be open to them.

Another 'problem' with being musical is that there's a lot of so-called music out there which I would not class as music. It's just racket.

Ever since TV came to Scotland when I was 11, I've been hooked on Wimbledon. Those were the days of 'Little Mo' Connolly and our house always seemed to be full of my friends wanting to watch this new phenomenon. So I'll be enjoying Wimbledon for the next two weeks, although I will have to take some breaks to attend to the garden and go to the gym. I am also rather attached to 6 Nations Rugby.

Like Baggy I don't usually have music playing (unless I'm actually sitting down with the intention of listening to it) nor do I usually have the radio on in the house, but when I'm driving I listen to Radio 4. My two sons are often plugged in to music on ipods or whatever, but in fairness they are both musical and play instruments and regard listening to music as part of their craft. I often can't think straight when 'background' music is playing. Visiting people who have the TV on all the time is torture for me and was a real nuisance when I was a social worker and had to try to conduct interviews in people's homes. Give me the sounds of nature any day!

Baggythecrust you are very sensible to listen to natural sounds if that is what sustains you. I get a few hours of nature hollering and creaking at me every morning in my horse's field (and I love it) but I find it necessary to have something else to listen to in the house or I'm liable to start brooding on things that make me miserable. At which point a good Radio4 programme can distract and delight me. I not a slave to it any more - I could give it up any time . . . . . . . .

Dordor, I'm afraid I'm a quietness freak. I don't have the radio on either. There is just so much noise in the world today that when I'm at home I prefer just to listen to as much quietness as possible. Constant noise, even good stuff such as radio four (I have had periods when I've listened to a fair few programmes, though never all day), seems to set my brain on edge and before long I can't even think straight. Since I live where I can hear birdsong, a hill stream, wind and rain, and for so much of my life those noises have been blotted out, I just want to enjoy them while I can. I suppose I'm contradicting myself a bit here. What I should say is that constant mechanical noise (and I include tv and radio in that) frazzles me.

What about radio? I like Radio4 and would happily listen to it all day. There are so many little gems and it is of course possible not to listen to the interminable trails and adverts; just about. Does anyone remember a series called Just Plain Gardening on Radio4 by the absolutely wonderful Patrick Barlow and company? Now if I could get that on CD I'd be a happy bunny.

mollie, I do understand, but for me the advantages of not having a tv greatly outweigh the disadvantages, so I'm prepared to miss some good stuff for the peace the lack of them, and other noise, affords. If I were living alone, I think I would have a tv.

Baggy, I take the point about DVDs and iPlayer but occasionally there is the odd, obscure programme that really hits the spot and those are the ones that won't be shown on iPlayer or released on DVDs...but perhaps I've been brainwashed by the big black box in the corner of the room!!!

We have all David Attenborough's programmes on DVD because we want to watch them more than once.

One very good reason for having a television set: in two words: David Attenborough.

When my DH was working away from home a few years ago, I actually found that most of the time in the evenings when DD was in bed there was nothing I wanted to watch more than reading a book, or having one read to me, as it were, on a CD recording while I did some craft work. I've recently finished a patchwork quilt that I started then. It has over 1400 small hexagonal patches, many of them cut from old clothes of mine and the children's. We gave the telly away five years ago and I don't miss it ever. If people ask me if I watched something, I just say no.

Happy to be GA. My youngest daughter puts Cbeebies on in the mornings for her 16 month old son before he goes to nursery and he loves it. She has three TV sets, but apart for an hour in the mornings she only watches at night when she's alone. (She was widowed last year and needs some distraction. ) Her siblings have all chosen not to have televisions.

GA (grannyactivist — you don't mind, I trust?), yes we did have a telly when the children were pre-school and it was great for their wee programmes. My GS now watches CBeebies too, but my daughter has the telly off most of the day, as I did.

Baggy, are you my lost twin?
Now and again I find something that piques my interest on iPlayer and choose to watch at a time that suits me. For instance I watched and thoroughly enjoyed 'The Killing' on iPlayer. Did you have a TV when your children were younger?
grandmaagain

Good for you, Mollie. The thing is, with DVDs and iPlayer, you can still watch the good programmes when they are released in those formats but you still don't need a telly. Ideal, I call it.