Poll | 08/30/2009 11:00 pm

Do you watch 'live' television anymore?

Read more about: Culture, DVR, Entertainment, Leisure, Television

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I have very little time to watch TV, and by choice I keep it turned off the majority of the time, probably one of the few that no longer even bothers with cable in the house, or misses it.

By Linda Myers on 08/31/2009 1:11 am

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We hardly ever watch prime time TV. Sometimes 30 Rock. However, we watch cable constantly and have several movie channels. That’s probably why we hardly ever watch a DVD or record a show.

By Laura Ward on 08/31/2009 2:02 am

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I pick and choose carefully—I never watch TV news of any persuasion—never watch so-called "reality" shows. Masterpiece is still a favorite as is baseball. If there is a good movie on from TCM I’ll watch.

By F P on 08/31/2009 4:25 am

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I am also of the ‘picky choosy’ persuasion and news never makes it onto my screen! Some network shows we catch at the correct time, but most of what we watch gets recorded with the DVR option from cable.

Patriots football is watched in ‘real time’ and I text with my son who goes to school in the Bronx during the games - it’s good bonding!

By Green Tears on 08/31/2009 7:52 am

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Between a non-standard work schedule and a prodigious number of evening phone interruptions, I long ago fell into the habit of recording anything I actually wanted to watch. It also solved the problem of competing shows in a specific time slot.

By necessity, my motto has been: “If I don’t tape it, I don’t see it.”

By Steve R on 08/31/2009 5:41 am

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Steve - competing shows to save has always been my problem. Seems everything comes on at 9:00 pm. How’d you solve this problem?

By Patrice Baldwin on 08/31/2009 8:51 pm

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Hi, Patrice. I do it the old-fashioned way - more than one VCR.

I don’t have cable, so the need for digital tuners complicates things.

By Steve R on 09/02/2009 7:39 pm

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I have a DVR with a hard drive and burner in the living room along with a VCR for back-up, a DVD player and VCR in the bedroom, and my computer records from my cable as well. If I miss something I really wanted to see, it’s only out of stupidity. I think it’s people like us who have cause networks to flog their other programs right over the top of the ones we watch, taking up to a quarter of the screen at the most inopportune moments of the program. It’s just a matter of time before they start selling that "space" to commercial advertisers.

By Karleen S on 09/09/2009 11:43 am

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I don’t watch any live TV anymore. Commercials are loud and more annoying than ever. The shows are rude, crude, frequently lewd and mind numbingly stupid. Whole scenes from favorite holiday movies are cut for MORE commercials. I’ll never forgive them for cutting the whole "The Best Things Happen While You’re Dancing" scene from "White Christmas" a few years ago. We moved 2 years ago to an area where we get only a few channels over the air. Those few were reduced to even fewer once they switched to all digital. We don’t have cable down our street and we’re not interested in satellite TV. We get our favorite TV shows and movies on DVD and watch them that way. You can pause whenever you need a bathroom break or want more popcorn. You never have to be blasted with commercials that are 5 times louder than the regular show volume. I miss the PBS stations the most but those shows are mostly available on DVD too.

By B Clark on 08/31/2009 7:31 am

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You hit it on the head. What is UP with the commercials? You’ll have your set adjusted comfortably and as soon as it goes to a commercial, the whole house seems like it’s full of screaming. And some of the commercials are just as offensive as some of the shows have gotten to be.

By Lila Kuh on 08/31/2009 10:00 am

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Most of TV is loud, rude, crude, et al, BC. Our NBC affiliate, and NBC AM shows seem to force their anchors to yell at the viewers, and most of the other stations do, too, except PBS, and BBC - their civil demeanor is like a breeze from the ocean. Commercials now occupying the majority of tv-viewing time, and are not only senseless, but repetitive, and boring.

On the other hand, I have to laugh at myself now and then when I shop because I have no idea what new products are, but at the same time, I’m not prone to try them, either - never did, never was.

BAN TV as it is now. The anchors on network TV and late-night guests are immature, seekers of attention, and not one program is without featuring "a star" to publicize a movie. It’s tiring, at best. You are not missing anything, but . . . PBS. Perhaps if we donated more, PBS could beam in to our homes, I watch it on my monitor though (www.pbs.org)

By C jay on 09/05/2009 5:48 pm

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ps: and tired of the Goggle ads popping up everywhere. Reading their EULA is like giving up one’s life in a 3rd. World nation.

By C jay on 09/05/2009 5:49 pm

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There are only a few good shows that I’m willing to watch anymore. I love Sally Fields and like the show Brothers & Sisters, waiting for the new ones to start. Other than that we watch the movie channels that don’t have infomercials.

We have Nintendo Wii with the Wii fit and a slew of other games. That keeps us busy during Prime-time. It’s fun for the whole family and we even play when we have company.

By Eldebbo C on 08/31/2009 8:20 am

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I watch PBS news and other offerings–-we are so fortunate to have public television. I also watch Olberman, Maddow, C-Span; Jon Stewart and Colbert on occassion. When Boston Legal was on, watched that, but that’s about it. My husband watches baseball/football. We watch movies on disk.

By phyllis Doyle Pepe on 08/31/2009 8:43 am