[Closed] Anyone given up tv

Haven't had a subscription for over 5 years cos everything and more is available online for nowt.

Our TV set finally gave up the ghost last month though but we haven't really missed it

Hardly watch broadcast TV unless it's sport that is free to air (cricket/F1/Tennis/cycling etc here in Oz) everything else is online.
The new F1 guys want to get into online so it might get you out of sky on that one

NO!
We'd have to talk to each other.....

I don't know why I pay for the Sky sub as the vast majority of what I watch is repeats of Family Guy and American Dad, bit of QI, the news, plus new episodes of Doctor Who when they're on once every year or two.

I even have the old Sky sub where I'm paying £5 extra for Sky F1 HD, but I rarely watch that. Bernie killed F1 for me anyway, though maybe that will improve now the old git has left but then half of F1 can be watched for free anyway.

Problem I have is finding the time / patience to sit down and watch something. Especially a whole series. Got the last series of Game of Thrones to still watch, but previous one was getting tedious at times. Watched the first of the last one and just can't be bothered now.

Got Amazon Prime too, though mostly for the postage (but that was worth it when it was half the price). Lots of TV series on there that's different to what Sky show, but I've never wanted to start on one.

Rock bottom basic virgin media offering and netflix.

EDIT: and I still dont get my moneys worth.

Not given it up but don't watch much, maybe 2-3 hours a week and all of that is streamed, not watched anything broadcast for about 18 months.

Gave it up a while back just down to t'internet smashing my attention span to bits (also films, magazines - reading is sacred so has survived as a special case).
Pros and cons - there's some quality telly about and sitting still for an hour sounds like a good idea now and again, but just don't have the appetite for it anymore.

Not had a telly for over ten years. Don't ever miss it. Maybe it would be different if there was no internet. I only ever seemed to shout at it anyway.

Went for 3 years with no tv licence, but that was in the day when iPlayer catchup could be watched without it. Nowadays there is so much available online that live broadcast tv is redundant for me most of the time. Cancelled Sky 10yrs ago.

Haven't watched broadcast tv in years after going legally license free. We do occasionally watch some catchup documentaries but the tv set is used almost exclusively for DVDs nowadays. When I visit my parents and see what's on the telly nowadays I can't say that I miss it.

We were thinking of getting a Now TV box for Sky Movies but apparently you need a license to watch the live streaming channels.

Never owned a TV, never missed it. Parents watch all sorts of drivel, these days we can stream the handful of interesting things anyway. Yes I have a license and would happily have paid while abroad if it had been possible (but it wasn't so I used a proxy instead).

Not had any way of actually watching broadcast tv or cable for many years

I have a very nice tv though which is only used for watching dvds - mostly for the kiddie but maybe 3 hours per week for the adults

I have never actually streamed anything either

Not quite given up, never had sky or netflix or any subscriber service anyway. I still pay my licence fee and have a 50 inch TV, but we don't watch "TV" as such. We buy DVD's and watch movies, and have a smart linux box thing to stream MTB videos and other free stuff from the net.

Should the thread title be changed to 'Has anyone given up moving images'.

Not having a TV and then watching films, DVDs and streams on your computer isn't giving up TV! You've just changed to format of delivery.

Anyway - I'm not giving up TV. There's too much good stuff I like.

Not interested in giving up TV, but am very tempted to stop watching live TV. We only have freeview on VM anyway, and 90% of what we watch is either on Prime or Netflix. So very tempted to go broadband only and get rid of the TV licence.

I've never had a TV in the traditional sense since leaving my family home, back in uni I'd torrent and these days I use Netflix/streams. However, I do watch loads of TV/films in the Netflix form - I spend a lot of my spare time coding and I like to watch stuff or listen to music (depends on mood and how hard I need to focus) whilst I'm doing it. If my choice was to pay for sky or have nothing I'd just choose nothing though. My Dad has sky and when I visit if I'm at a loose end I might flick on the TV and I'm always quite amazed by how rarely there's actually anything I want to watch on there.

I haven't watched live TV in about 3yrs now, and once Iplayer went licence only I stopped watching that too. While there's a few programmes I may miss it's not the end of the world.
I do watch films etc via Netflix, Youtube and my content seems to be more tailored towards what I actually want to watch rather than whatever is on at the time.
It does make me baulk when I read the "shall I quit my Sky" threads and see people are paying £80 odd per year, then add on top of that the £150 for a licence. I get broadband plus Netflix for £35 per month and I get pretty much everything I need (legally)

I quit Sky.

Realised I was basically hardly watching anything on the subscription channels anymore, so just cancelled. Sod the nonsense about getting a cheaper deal after cancelling. I got a 100% discount, and don't fund the guys that control governments.

I'm not smug enough to tell everyone "ooh look at me, I don't watch and don't even have a TV" 😉 Licence here in Germany is essentially a compulsory surcharge, so if you don't watch or listen, that's your loss.

I mostly watch RedbullTV, Youtube, and cycling, skiing, IoMTT, etc. mostly live. Online is the future.
edit: and would be happy to pay for BBC4, ITV4, etc. if they allowed such subscription.

No TV viewing or Sky etc for the last few months. It's quite a relief not to watch the news any more! Been watching a few box sets though!

Be interesting to know the ages of those who don't watch "traditional" broadcast TV.

We did have Sky (crap terrestrial reception at previous house) but got rid of it ten years ago or so as we never watched the subscription stuff - we never had any of the premium packages. The majority of what we watch is on the five main terrestrial channels (BBC1, BBC2, ITV, CH4 & Ch5) with the remainder being BBC4 and the like.

Will record something if there's a clash but I'm not that bothered mostly.

We dont have subscription services as we dont watch that much tv. We do pay for a tv license as the offerings of freeview and iPlayer fill our requirements. Also, I am a massive fan of the BBC (I know its not perfect) and for me, that is me contributing to quality broadcasting, round the world, who I know will present me something near(ish) the truth. If I didnt do this, I'd pay for a newspaper subscription, but I think they are all somewhat biased in their delivery (and yes, I know the BBC is a bit leftist, but so am I!).

Haven't had a TV for over 10 years. We watch the odd show / film (Netflix etc) on an iMac.

Haven't had a TV for about 10 years, but I do sometimes miss it. It's true that one can get most things somewhere online, but there are times when I just want to be spontaneous and watch whatever crap happens to be available instead of having to make a nightly choice.

I stopped watching TV about five years ago and the only time I miss it is when I'm out with people and all they are able to talk about is what they watched on TV last night.
I still watch my collection of films on my hard drive though but my life isn't ruled by the tv like it used to be.

I've given up staying awake when the TV is on. Does that count?

Didn't watch any TV for January - didn't miss it & so far watched 2 crap films & a couple of episodes of QI this month, I do watch all the Moto GP's though, so it will be staying. 88yr old father in the house = £0 for licence anyway

Not had a TV in a couple of years, and really not bothered by it. The other half has a Netflix subscription and watches stuff on her laptop, I listen to music and read books. Would never pay for Sky TV/Virgin/whatever as there's nothing I'm that desperate to see, and I don't seem to want to binge-watch entire series of anything.

Even when I did have a telly (in a shared house, with housemate/landlord's Sky subscription) it was at most just background in the living room while I ate my dinner. Music does that just as well for me.

My 2p.

If you don't like moving imagines, then fair enough, makes you quite rare, doesn't make you interesting... despite what some posters might think, dare I say it?

Me, yes I have a TV, all my furniture is pointed towards it, actually we have 3 - get us!

For me, TV like social media, like the web, like lots of things actually is as good / bad as you want it to be - it's just a medium for squirting moving images and sound into your brain. Think most of it is drivel? You're not alone EVERYONE thinks it's mostly drivel, that's why there's so much choice, you might not be interested in the fictional cut and thrust of suburban working class life in a fictional Manchester suburb, neither am I, but some people are. I won't bore you with what I enjoy, it won't be to your taste and yours won't be to mine - we rarely agree at home.

If you think by denying yourself the option of watching TV you'll suddenly discover a love of literature, or have long and well thought out debates with your loved ones about very clever subjects - you won't, you could do that now, you don't. If you think you'll double your cycling mileage, you won't - you're on a cycling forum for heaven’s sake if the lure of a 3rd viewing of episode 4 series 5 of The Big Bang Theory is too great to let you drag yourself away and get out on your bike, you're in the wrong place.

Denying something to encourage "better" behaviour is what we do to Children who aren't yet mature enough to make good decisions, Adults are allowed choice - TVs all have an off button.

What it really boils down to is this, is Sky / Virgin value for money? It's worth considering that like mobile phones, you're not paying for the media, you're paying for the hardware - don't want to pay Sky £80 a month to watch The Walking Dead? Then don't, pay them £6 a month and stream it via NowTV, buy your own hardware to watch the satellite feed or go Freeview.

just freeview is fine for us

we have a recorder and so just set stuff we like on series record, still dont have time to watch it all!

use iplayer a lot -for us and kids tv, plus listen to 6 music/ r4 so license fee is fine well worth it imho

We have a tele on the wall in the bedroom. we lost the remote about 3yrs ago and were never arsed enough to look for it, it has never been on since and we have never missed it.

i could be without the downstairs one too but wife & kids still enjoy all the reality shows and prime time saturday night drivel.

The reason ive put up this thread is just because i maybe only put the tv on two or three times a week but its not that i will read anymore as i only read factual im one of them that need pictures, Animal farm mice and men etc is all i've read to pass English. Music is always on or chat radio and can't see me out on my bike more than i do. I will divert the funds to my holiday destination

Wow, I couldn't live without a TV!

I'm not addicted, but it's my way of switching off in the evening, there's some brilliant series on at the moment

Plus sitting down and chilling out as a family watching a movie (Jungle Book 2016 the other day) is awesome

Don't get me wrong, I love the outdoors and like playing in the woods and riding my bike, but it's the 21st century

It's a bit like people saying they don't have a microwave...

What do you put in the area where the TV goes and where do you face your chairs?

Actually Ben ... 🙄

Seriously we don't have a microwave - not because we are against them but we don't have a lot of room on the kitchen worktop and when we did have one at the last house we didn't use it a lot.

Anyway, back on topic: there are times when I want to watch something on the TV (there's a two part series with Frank Gardner and Benedict Allen in Papua New Guinea looking for birds of paradise that sounds dire but the first programme was great); times when I'll just have it as background and times when it doesn't get switched on.

I don't have a microwave. Yes really.

Re TV; I watched a nature program the other day with my kids, which after an initial amazement of what they were seeing prompted about an hour of questions about why animals did this, that and the other, it was a great education for them.

On Saturday I enjoyed the rugby with my son - 8 - who also plays rugby and as well as the fun time we had shouting at England together took some inspiration from it into his Sunday training session. Mum took him but I understand he played very well.

Tonight while Mrs K is at her tap dancing lesson, I'll switch of and watch several episodes of Fortitude, which whilst providing a level of entertainment has inspired my to google about its natural setting and the aurora borealis so has been an education also.

Its not always negative.

Haven't had a TV for over 12 years, not missed it. Still get TV licensing visit every year, I hate the tone of the letters they send, so totally ignore them. This then forces them to visit, and I then make them take socks, shoes and everything off before I let them in the door, and they all seem to hate my dog, which is great as I sort of get him really excited about a new visitor to play with.
TV is screaming to get a life. do something, just like when I was a kid we had a TV program called "why don't you" and the jingle was turn off the TV and do something else instead.

+1 P-jay.

I'm not smug enough to tell everyone "ooh look at me, I don't watch and don't even have a TV"

I do find it slightly odd that some people wear "not doing something" like a badge of honour, that they're somehow better than the rest of us for it. Not on this particular thread necessarily but certainly in previous discussions, they're like all those Mac users who like to pass judgement on "Windoze" despite not having touched a PC since Windows 95. Yet you'd never hear someone go "oh, I gave up on books years ago."

Telly's great, and there's never been a broader choice of quality programming. Sure, there's plenty of dross too, but some people like the dross. One man's meat is another man's pornography, or something.

We have excellent home-grown documentary series, the last Attenborough outing I watched showed some incredible footage from places I could never even dream of visiting, with simply breathtaking cinematography that any photographer would be immensely proud of just to capture as a still. We have award-winning dramas from the other side of the pond, things like Game of Thrones, The Walking Dead, Westworld. Christ, we've even had some sci-fi, who'd a thunk it. We have great quiz shows, from prime-time fodder like Pointless and The Chase to the more cerebral - and awesome - Only Connect. There's still soaps if you like that sort of thing, a show that's been on air continuously for over half a century must be doing [i]something[/i] right. We have political talk shows like The Last Leg, arguably one of the funniest things on TV, originally a show to discuss the Paralympics. And speaking of which, sports coverage has never been better.

You don't watch TV, good for you. But we're the ones who should be smug, you're missing out on some quality entertainment.

It's a bit like people saying they don't have a microwave...

It's a bit like people saying they [b]won't[/b] have a microwave.

I then make them take socks, shoes and everything off before I let them in the door,

That's your first mistake, what are you letting them in for? Does not watching TV mean you don't know what to do with your time?

I do find it slightly odd that some people wear "not doing something" like a badge of honour,

Well the OP asked? 🙂

I'd never consider my lack of telly a badge of honour. It's not really something I think about until somebody asks specifically. And obviously; I've not given up on moving images - I have a laptop and a big ol' monitor... I just don't want to see adverts. So if there's anything [i]really[/i] good on I hear about it from friends, albeit a bit late. I got into The Wire in 2011 and have just finished House Of Cards.

I don't have a microwave either. I don't know why, just never had one so don't really know what they're good for that an oven or a saucepan can't do. I'd rather have the worktop space.

We haven't had a TV for about 3 years. I wouldn't say we've given up on TV though - we have Netflix and Amazon Prime subscriptions. I'd say we've given up on the dross that's broadcast in favour of being much more selective. When we visit the MiL (who has a TV on in more than one room constantly) I'm actually quite shocked by how poor a lot of it is, even things like the news.

That said, I'm thinking of getting another TV because watching everything on the laptop is a bit annoying sometimes.

I've never owned a microwave either!

Have netflix and amazon prime is having a TV though isn't it? Even if you watch it on a laptop screen or a monitor, is essentially watching TV

There have been a couple of blinding things on TV that I really enjoyed, and I even learnt a few things from too (things like Planet Earth or Band of Brothers)

There's also some pretty cool documentary stuff, low budget ish production that is like watching a magazine... things on the Bike Channel, some motorbike stuff I've seen a bit of recently

(plus you can also watch x factor and BGT 😀 )

I haven't had a TV for about five years. I mostly watched relatively few programs on stuff that interested me. Often this was a disappointment. I see enough of it in holiday rents to notice that it hasn't changed. Furthermore, the weather on t'internest is much more useful.

Then there's the political slant, like the sort that some Scots folk are objecting to...

[i]‘However, there is a significant number still in Scotland whose trust we lost and I think there’s still a bit of work to be done in that regard. I think it’s part of my mission to try and address these perceptions, which may have led to that loss of trust.’[/i]

D MacKinnon, new boss in BBC Glasgow. Go to it, luv.

Like others I get offensive threatening letters and occasional visits because I don't have a licence. It's you good people with licences who pay for this.

PS - there's never anything interesting on my microwave, just stuff going round and round, like a good-old-days test card,

@slowoldgit - try a raw egg in there, it's quite exciting

A can of coke might be intersting too.

I've got a nice big TV which I watch if I have nothing else to do.
Great way to watch the 6 nations, footie and Die Hard.

It's a bit like people saying they don't have a microwave...

Hardly an essential item of the modern age. I've got one but I only use it to soften butter and heat up coffee after I've let it get cold.

TV is like alcohol - an acquired taste that's difficult to give up at first, but after a few days you don't miss it. I enjoy it but often just listen while doing something else, and I only seem to watch BBC2 and BBC4. There are some delightfully quirky things on the channels further down the list but the ads come round so quickly that it annoys me and I give up.

I do find it slightly odd that some people wear "not doing something" like a badge of honour

I don't think anyone was thinking of it as a badge of honour, just answering the question asked and explaining what they do instead. Is that so difficult to follow?

For what it's worth: You have a TV, good for you. Do you want a medal to go with that?

One of my cousins used to be a teacher. One day in class, one of her pupils asked her if she'd seen a programme the previous night which was presumably relevant to her subject (biology). "No, I don't have a TV". A couple of days later another pupil's parents came in to school carrying a TV - their child had told them about my cousin's lack of TV and they had "taken pity" on the poor teacher and were donating a spare TV to her! At this point my cousin had to explain that she didn't have a TV because she didn't want a TV.

I don't think anyone was thinking of it as a badge of honour, just answering the question asked and explaining what they do instead. Is that so difficult to follow?

If you read the rest of the post rather than cherry-picking one sentence in order to have an argument, you'll see the very next sentence which says:

[b]Not on this particular thread necessarily[/b] but certainly in previous discussions

I've even embiggened the salient bit for you. Is that so difficult to follow?

whitestone - Member
One of my cousins used to be a teacher. One day in class, one of her pupils asked her if she'd seen a programme the previous night which was presumably relevant to her subject (biology). "No, I don't have a TV". A couple of days later another pupil's parents came in to school carrying a TV - their child had told them about my cousin's lack of TV and they had "taken pity" on the poor teacher and were donating a spare TV to her! At this point my cousin had to explain that she didn't have a TV because she didn't want a TV.

Haha, I've experienced that. You say you've 'not got one' to try and avoid an awkward conversation. Then it's "What do you mean you've not got one? Well you can have our old one, it's just sat in the loft!"

You then think: Hmm, shall I accept it then bung it on Freecycle... or should I fess up? So you do the honourable thing and explain why you don't have a telly and it gets their back up immediately. "Eeh, appen 'e thinks he's a right intellectual scholard!"

I've not had a TV for, er, 17 years? I had TV soap-addicted flatmates before then and it really put me off TV then as they'd watch solidly from 5.30pm to about 9pm every single day, so when they moved out, I got rid of the TV. Then I moved (up north) and didn't bother getting a TV (and couldn't afford a licence) and found I really didn't miss it.

I rent the odd film from iTunes, watch Youtube videos and that's it. I rarely find that I have two hours spare in a day, even at weekends, so soak up in front of a TV.

(I don't have a microwave either...) 😉

No. Next question.

Ah, but you posted it on this thread, Cougar. I'm not spoiling for an argument, but your post (which I had read in full, I'm afraid) basically reads that those without TVs should be pitied as we're missing out on [i]all this stuff[/i]. I can't speak for anyone else, obviously, but I don't need the pity and I don't feel I'm missing anything by not seeing the stuff. It's not a badge of honour, but by the same count I also don't need the TV-faithful trying to brief me in on exactly what I'm missing: if I was that bothered, I'd buy a telly!

Oh, and embiggened isn't a word, no matter what the Simpsons claim 😉

Yet you'd never hear someone go "oh, I gave up on books years ago."

I have. Not read a book in years!

Did 75 Audiobooks from Audible last year though.

(Although I do totally get your point 😉 )

basically reads that those without TVs should be pitied as we're missing out on all this stuff.

I wasn't being entirely serious with that last sentence. I should have put a smiley after it really.

(I don't have a microwave either...)

The TV I can understand, but what the **** is this shit?

Watch it for sport and The Grand Tour, the rest is shite.

Watch it for sport and The Grand Tour, the rest is shite.

Heh.

Did 75 Audiobooks from Audible last year though.

Yeah, I don't really get as much time to read as I'd like (obviously, cos I'm glued to the telly), but I can listen to stuff whilst I'm cooking and so on and so audiobooks have filled that gap. I've been going through the Big Finish full cast Doctor Who stories borrowed from a friend, I think I'm up to #155 now.

I like TV.

Couldn't survive without my fix of Scandi dramas. 😀 I do seem to be different from most wimminz in that I don't watch any s'leb type tosh or cookery shows.

Note to BBC4: sort yerselves oot with music programs, standards have dropped.

I do have a microwave for porridge-making.

I don't have a microwave and only have Freeview. At one time all I watched was F1, TdF and Ski Sunday.

I watch a bit more these days - when there something worth watching.

+1 P-Jay & Cougar; I really couldn't put it better myself.

Still don't have a microwave though - only miss it for heating up leftovers and making porridge in a less messy fashion.

Mindlessly watching crap is no good. But there are ways to be a discerning viewer.

For us, Sky is terrible value for money. We have an Amazon and Netflix sub and we watch that. Some superb stuff on it. And a lot of crap too.

I rarely find that I have two hours spare in a day

I couldn't be that busy. I need time to chill.

The usage score so far this week is

Microwave 1 - 0 Television

I expect the TV to up it's game later in the week as I'll probably watch a man walking purposefully around ye olde London in Taboo at some point.

+1 no TV & no microwave , I do stream stuff from the net tho , but don't pay no one nuffinks.

Hang on, I'm out of popcorn.

4 TV's in our house, full Sky Q package, Netflix and Amazon Prime.

Don't think I'll be ditching tv any time soon

Can all the non-microwave owners have some sort of icon next to their name?

I need to know who I think are a little bit odd, and prefer to cook beans on the hob rather than nuking them with technology.

Is that all they do, cook beans? How much time are you saving compared to heating them on the hob? I don't think I've ever cooked beans on the hob and thought "this is taking ages, I need a colossal white appliance to get this done quicker".

Call me a minimalist but I'd rather have the space. Not only that, but it's another thing to clean.

but it's another thing to clean.

You have a choice. 😳

Sorry, I detailed the thread with the microwave comment!

I used one for scrambled eggs and then porridge at breakfast. Then to reheat leftover spag bol for dinner. I love the microwave!

You have a choice.

Don't worry, CG. The microwaves steralise all the old porridge stains

I'm quietly confident that the expensive stainless steel jobs are self-cleaning. Micro fairies emerge from the little slots and eat any spillages.

Ha, whilst technically I do have a TV it hasn't been cabled up or switched on in, oh, seven years I'd guess (keep meaning on trawling through my VHS tapes and for watch DVDs but I have a couple laptops which I use instead),

The last time I lived in a house with TV I think I watched it maybe 20 times the whole year and most of that was for the weather/news reports on the long, harsh winter we were undergoing. Remember actually switching it off mid programme as it was so shite and never switching it on again....

I did use iplayer for a while (when broadband and legally supported) but not since the law changed.

I consume TV by DVD mostly these days (just finished Narcos). Broadcast TV is just so outdated (like having a landline....).

Oh, I don't have a microwave either. Add me to your list Jamie 😉

I consume TV by DVD mostly these days (just finished Narcos). Broadcast TV is just so outdated (like having a landline

*Wonders if actually serious

*Wonders if actually serious

I mean sitting down and waiting for a programme to begin. As against on demand (like NetFlix).

Just seems ridiculous now.

Ha, just seemed funny that you somehow thought that watching TV on a dvd was somehow more futuristic than a scheduled broadcast - anyway, it's Blu ray now you heathen 😉

I watch streamed stuff, I watch scheduled stuff, I watch discs. None seem more relevant than the other tbh.

F1 and most sporting events are not really something you'd want to watch on dvd