I just realised the other day that we have been without our TV connection for just over 1 year.
It was a decision we made when we moved out to the country last year. After the last of the boxes were emptied from the moving truck and we had set up the lounge we decided to give the idea of no TV a try. We love our movies though and watch DVD's. We also belong to an online DVD rental company and have them delivered which is great as we never seemed to get them back to the store on time and sometimes we never even got round to watching them.
It took me 3 months to cancel our Sky (cable/satellite) subscription as I was convinced we where going to connect back up. 1 year on and we are still TV/advertisement free. I don't miss it but I know the kids would probably say yes to connecting up again although they have never asked too. I wondered the other day if the TV aerial even works!
I don't like all of the advertising and hate it when I'm watching a great movie and it stops every 15 minutes to fit in the ad breaks. And these days it is so easy to catch up on the news online.
So for now we will continue to be TV free. It has definately been alot easier than I intially thought.
Are you TV free in your household? Have you ever tried going without TV?
I too hate it when they ruin a perfectly good movie/tv show by filling it up with ads. I stopped watching Downton Abbey because I was actually having trouble following the story line with channel 7 putting SO many ads in, they were even cutting off certain scenes! I figured I would just buy the series when it is finished and enjoy the last few episodes unspoiled!
ReplyDeleteNow we watch Call the Midwife on Sundays, as it is on the ABC, so no ads.
The only other time TV is watched is on Wednesday nights, when I return from Dog Obedience training, it's nice to curl up on the couch with dinner and watch Ten's new show Mr & Mrs Murder (I don't usually like murder mysteries, I personally find them too creepy, but Mr & Mrs Murder is very light, and has no yuckiness at all) :-)
Sarah x
i envy you, Not something we could do though, I have to admit though I watch my programmes on the laptop..
ReplyDeleteWe've been thinking about it for ages and last week made the call to Sky to cancel our subscription. I won't miss it at all as I hardly watch any TV and what I want to watch I can download mostly ad free. The kids don't watch a lot but they are horrified we're getting rid of it, I'm hoping though that after being away they won't even notice it's not hooked up! Julie
ReplyDeletel nearly fell over when I saw this blog post. Just a week ago I wrote a post about our TV free existence. It's waiting quietly in "draft" form becuase I wasn't sure if I should publish it. You have inspired me....going to hit the "publish" button now. And yes, we love having a TV free household and yes we watch DVD's. I love having control over what my kids see. I'm blown away to discover we aren't the only ones! We should be neighbours ha ha.
ReplyDeleteWhen I moved to the country a year ago we were also TV free, I listened to the radio alot more and just caught up on the odd programme ( call the midwife ) on the computer. But after 8 months I gave in as I was lonely in the evenings ( mike being away alot ) and to be honest it became a babysitter for the kids ( was going insane ) Though now that Mike is here more than he was, I'm not watching TV as much, so I'm definately considering ditching the dish again!
ReplyDeleteWow, you've just sparked the most interesting debate in our house!!! Lot's to think about now!! Thank you!! :)
ReplyDeletehttp://norfolkexposure.blogspot.com/2013/04/tv-free.html
ReplyDeleteI did it! Now that I know I'm not alone....thanks for sharing and thanks for your honesty xx
We've been TV free now for almost a year now and before that we hardly watched TV and having worked out that for the amount of programs we watched and the cost of the TV licence it was working out around £15 to watch a program....crazy! Like you we watch DVDs and do catch up tv which at the moment is free with bbc progs and also borrow or rent what we need. All I can say is it's GREAT!! No more annoying advertising and the radio and music keeps us going. I'd never go back now and we don't feel we are missing anything. Suzy x
ReplyDeleteWe have a tv but we rarely turn it on.
ReplyDeleteI do watch The Block when it is running and Daddy R will watch sports but that is about all we watch live.
The rest we download through iTunes and we definitely watch more of our fair share of Peppa Pig on YouTube.
I like first deciding if I have the time to watch something, choosing what I want to watch and then watching it without ads...I find that I watch a lot less and appreciate what I watch more!
When I moved to London we made the decision in our house not to buy a tv license. A year and a half later, a new girl moved in with one, which was great for a month or so. Now that I've moved again and we don't have one here, It's great. We've got internet where we watch things together, we read together, and we're a lot closer than we could've been at this point in friendships because we're forced to hang out with each other. It's great! X
ReplyDeleteMy sister has been TV free for years! And she has a house full of 7 children. They didn't miss it and for lent Sunny and I have also given up TV altogether... Including no DVD's either! We also gave up on electronic games etc. I'm not much of a TV watcher (am a little bit of an internet explorer) but we have had so much time to do things together - I'm actually loving it! Perhaps it will become a permanent thing here...
ReplyDeleteSophie xo
There is not much on TV to miss anyway, too much rubbish.We don't watch much ourselves and have friends with three kids who didn't have a TV for about 10 years. They have one now for movies only too.
ReplyDeleteThe ads can be very irritating. The mute button is pressed quickly as soon as they come on.
ReplyDeleteI much prefer watching abc and sbs which have few ads.
x
I myself could give it up except for The Block which even the boy loves to watch. Must say a good dose of ABC kids does keep me sane though! mel x
ReplyDeleteI think it's great! I'd love to go without a TV, I love it when we go camping and ban all things electrical! :) x
ReplyDeleteYou rock!!! Seriously! I wish their were more moms doing this out there! We have a TV but I am super crazy about screen time and commercials with my beans. We don't do tv during the day but they get to watch a program at night. I often wonder when we go to peoples houses where they just leave the television running all day how it doesn't drive them nuts. Especially all of the violent ads...kids just don't need to see those images. Good for you!! Keep up the good work!!!
ReplyDeleteI'm all for it. I posed the same question to hubby the other day - let's do without the TV when we move. Our's hardly gets used (just the odd movie) plus it would give us an extra room which could be used for a more meaningful purpose.
ReplyDeleteGood for you! The ads are so trashy even if you can find a decent show to watch!
ReplyDeletewe record anything we want to watch and the boys know that we don't watch TV during the week (actually they only watch recorded programmes with fast forwarded ads)they are allowed TV sometimes on the weekend so we can have a sleep in... but that's it no mindless watching. In the evenings i do blob out in front of the TV but again only to recorded programmes
ReplyDeleteYou are amazing. xxx
ReplyDeleteGood for you! I like the idea of no tv but not sure if we could do it. We get around ads by recording tv shows and skipping the ads (we rarely watch any live-to-air tv).
ReplyDeleteGood for you. I think I could be TV free, but would need to have a DVD player and have the option of watching box sets and films. But the adverts...yes, they are so annoying. x
ReplyDelete