Opting to not have a TV set

Just to buck the trend I enjoy TV and watch some of the soaps. I like thrillers and wildlife programmes as well. Due to failing health I am more house bound now so I watch more than I used to.

Grandma70s

When I was young in the 1960s and 70s there was a sort of snobbery about TV. If you admitted to having a set at all, it had to be a small one, and in certain circles it was social suicide to admit you enjoyed it. Very silly. I’m like others here in that I don’t watch soaps or celebrity stuff, but enjoy news, current affairs, documentaries and some comedy, usually on BBC.

You’ve reminded me of what I’ve often seen in the novels of Barbara Pym. I’m a great fan of her books but it was quite clear that to her, watching TV was only really for servants or others of the ‘lower classes’.

I also used to have a colleague whose mother would never allow any watching of ITV (as it was then) because it was ‘common’.😂

I do buy a tv licence, it takes away the `what if`

I don`t watch BBC but will watch old programmes via other channels and I watch a lot of youtube, when I need information about eg an appliance, a repair etc plus I have watched many good old series and films on youtube

It would not take much for me to stop watching live or recorded tv altogether but like to have the option and that goes hand in hand with me doing my bit and paying for a licence

Well, my tv is very important and provides my main form of home entertainment. I do have a recording machine (Manhatten), and record most programmes I wish to see, and then can view them at a time of my own choosing (and fast forward any adverts). Do not like any of the celeb stuff, so just do not watch any of that.

I do enjoy all the 'cosy murder' series, the only soaps I watch are Classic Doctors and Classic Casualty. I find so many programmes produced by the BBC are wonderful - think I would get very much more lonely without wonderful tv. Also, learn so much from it. IMO people who do not take advantage of this excellent means of good entertainment and information, do not know what they are missing.
For

boheminan

I haven't had a TV for around 20 years and don't feel I'm missing out on anything. If there's anything I have a yearning to watch, which isn't very often, I'll watch it on the BBC/ITV website.

As I've turned 75yrs I don't pay a licence.

My hubby is 76, does this mean we are paying for a licence when we don't need to?

Youtube is my answer to the mostly poor programmes on the main channels. I can watch so much and find something that interests me. Never watch soaps, reality shows, game shows, football, daytime gossip shows and talent contests as watching ;paint dry is more fun.

I have a neighbour who does not have a TV. She reads a lot and visits friends (like me) if there is something on she particularly wants to see and hopes she will be allowed to watch. She is loaded but really mean and won’t pay for a licence.

Our TV stopped communicating with the antenna so we were using internet for everything. Only a problem if WiFi went down! But we don't need a licence in Australia anyway.

I mostly watch Youtube and Daily Motion as there's so much more to watch on there. I rarely bother with the two main channels as they seem to churn out the same programmes every day for years on end.

Our period without a tv is coming to an end. DH has ordered a new one for when all the rest of our stuff comes out of storage.

he can then fall alseep in front of the Antiques Road Show and I can go elsewhere in the house and do something else.

2507C0

Judybloom, if you listen to any radio programs that are by the BBC, you need a license. Or is it if you own a radio you need a license?

You do not need a licence to listen to BBC radio.

Judybloom, if you listen to any radio programs that are by the BBC, you need a license. Or is it if you own a radio you need a license?

Good for you, getting rid of the gogglebox!

Soaps and ''celebrity'' rubbish don't interest me, either, nor all the countless 'talent'' shows, cooking, bits of creepy junk in the attic, and all the talk shows with the same boring guests and the twisted animal murdering lot in the jungle!

I won't pay a whopping £174.50 to watch Katie Price getting its enormous boobs out!

I've never had a TV and never will! As a kid, all I got was ''but you HAVE to watch this, you HAVE to watch that''. No, I won't!

I still get threatening letters from the licensing mafia who refuse point-blank to understand there's no TV or licence equipment in my flat all the time I live here! I've never had a radio either

So very well done to you, cobden28!

We have been living without a tv for three months. Not by choice, but because we have moved house and most of our belongings are in store while an army of tradesmen sweep through the house.

We haven't missed it. Possibly DH does a bit, but I have never been a tv watcher, so haven't.

I would hate to be without my TV.
Yes, there is some rubbish but it's outweighed by many enjoyable programmes.

Top post, PaynesGray

PS, Galaxy...I find her pretty even handed when idiocy or lies are involved. She does a pretty good put down on manipulative or simply stupid males and females.
She's a bright and firm lady.

Surely there’s a difference between opting not to have a TV as a separate piece of furniture but still watching broadcast media on a laptop, tablet or phone … and rejecting broadcast media altogether? The first is just choosing to watch on a smaller screen.

People talk as if the schedules contain nothing but soaps and reality shows (which millions do enjoy), but there is so much else to watch.

I’m confined to home at the moment, still feeling poorly after a stay in hospital and on meds which cause insomnia. I can fill much of my day reading, listening to audio books and radio and doing various crafts but it’s also been a chance to watch some excellent TV.

We all have different tastes. Last week I watched To Walk Invisible, a Sally Wainwright drama about the Brontë sisters, followed by a vintage production of The Tenant of Wildfell Hall starring Tara Fitzgerald. I’ve also watched Prisoner 951 about Nazanin Zaghari-Ratcliffe and Richard Ratcliffe, David Olusoga’s Empire, the documentary Poison Water and the film Offical Secrets based on the true story of GCHQ whistleblower Katharine Gun.All of those are on the BBC. I’ve also watched several vintage films (a passion of mine) on free-to-air Talking Pictures TV as well as the 1970s drama Family at War. I’m also enjoying the very slow-burn Walter Presents Danish drama crime Fatal Crossing on Channel 4 as well as Down Cemetery Road, a Mick Herron (of Slow Horses) book/drama starring Emma Thompson and Ruth Wilson on Apple TV.

I am happy to pay the TV Licence which is a mighty 48p a day. Hard to think of anything else which provides so much value. I’d pay the fee just for Radio 3, 4 and 4Extra although one doesn’t need a licence to listen to radio. I’m also partial to watching BBC Parliament and ParliamentTVLive. These channels provide an excellent insight into the wide-ranging and detailed work of government - a contrast to the narrowly-focused personal attack headlines we are fed through some broadcast and print media which cause so much division.

Judge Judy always seems to be harder on the female defendants though

Georgesgran

I go in fits and starts watching tv. No soaps or reality programmes, but, as I live alone, there’s always something I can find to watch in these cold, dark nights.
At £15 (ish) a month, it barely equates to a weekly coffee in Costa.
I don’t think I’d want to give my tv up.

Me too. just got a bigger one as my sight is not brilliant Lots of history, nature, good films, travel to lovely places: I have a strange liking for RL cop shows, and anyone like a good firm female role model - try Judge Judy she'll set you right 🤨.

I’ve just watched Only Connect and University Challenge, two of my favourite programmes.

I like TV but I ration it to one programme a day of around an hour. Always watch on iPlayer. If its a film I will watch it in instalments. I wouldnt be without it, but equally I dont want to just watch any old thing for the sake of it. None of my 'kids' have TV's.

I had a visit from the detector man in the 1970’s.
The previous residents had one but we couldn’t afford a tv. Our address was obviously on the records and had been flagged up.
A very nice man refused my invitation to come in and see if he could find a set!
We do have one now and wouldn’t be without it. We also have a licence!

I have a friend who has no tv and she gets threatening letters all the time that she will be prosecuted. She has written to the licensing authority many times to say she does not watch tv but still gets these letters.

Mojack26

Still need a licence I think if you watch BBC on your laptop??

Indeed. ✔️

Greciangirl

I got a free license when i turned 70..
Same for everyone.

It isn’t free for the over 70s.
It’s only free from 75 if you’re getting Pension Credit.
Otherwise you pay.

Taken from the Gov.Uk site-
“If you’re 75 or over and you get Pension Credit, you can get a free TV licence.”