# Do you hate TVs in public as much as I do? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 11, 2026, 3:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-tvs-in-public-as-much-as-i-do/1033747 "2026-10-11T15:15:15Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 6:55pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-tvs-in-public-as-much-as-i-do/1033747/21 "2026-10-11T18:55:17Z")
Or even worse, OANN or Newsmax. Yes, seen that. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 7:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-tvs-in-public-as-much-as-i-do/1033747/22 "2026-10-11T19:15:59Z")
I don’t recall TV in airports as much as I used to see them, but I usually fly Southwest, so maybe they are different. Also, maybe the engagement for these things go down since everyone is on their devices. What I hate in restaurants is TVs on every wall, just about, so you can’t pick a seat avoiding them. On the plus side, they all seem to have captioning on and the volume off, which helps. Not for the customers, but because the TVs are tuned to different channels so it would get confusing. ---
**Author:** ![E-DUB](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/e-dub/32/403_2.png) [@E-DUB](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/E-DUB)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 7:22pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-tvs-in-public-as-much-as-i-do/1033747/23 "2026-10-11T19:22:45Z")
FOX alienates lefties, CNN or MSNOW alienates righties. My car dealership/mechanic doesn’t do either or sports but those House fixing-up shows, which are just lame and annoying. ---
**Author:** ![blondebear](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/blondebear/32/1022_2.png) [@blondebear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/blondebear)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 7:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-tvs-in-public-as-much-as-i-do/1033747/24 "2026-10-11T19:26:38Z")
I want to call out a spot down the street for this. They have screens scattered around the whole place tuned to sports networks…including ones that broadcast MMA and Cage Match events. I may be in the minority but that kind of content isn’t what I consider appropriate for a “family-friendly” (their words) experience. While it’s possible to sit facing away from the screens, those seats may not always be available. ---
**Author:** ![DrDeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b487fb/32.png) [@DrDeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DrDeth)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 7:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-tvs-in-public-as-much-as-i-do/1033747/25 "2026-10-11T19:30:04Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > I really, really dislike TVs playing in public places. If they’re muted, fine. Everywhere I see TVs our here, they are muted. What annoys me is no closed captioning. ---
**Author:** ![Dewey\_Finn](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dewey_finn/32/4222_2.png) [@Dewey\_Finn](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dewey_Finn)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 7:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-tvs-in-public-as-much-as-i-do/1033747/26 "2026-10-11T19:32:47Z")
> [@Voyager](#): > > I don’t recall TV in airports as much as I used to see them, but I usually fly Southwest, so maybe they are different. Also, maybe the engagement for these things go down since everyone is on their devices. There was something called [CNN Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNN_Airport) in many airport terminal gate areas, but that went out of business about five years ago, because most people have a smartphone or other streaming device of their own. ---
**Author:** ![Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mean_mr.mustard/32/3865_2.png) [@Mean\_Mr.Mustard](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mean_Mr.Mustard)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 7:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-tvs-in-public-as-much-as-i-do/1033747/27 "2026-10-11T19:37:55Z")
I dislike them in doctor or dentist waiting rooms. However, my dentist now has TVs playing in each of their exam rooms, and I don’t hate it. During my most recent cleaning, I was treated to a good portion of “The Price is Right”, a show I never watch and have zero interest in watching. But ya know what? It was a nice distraction for the goings on in my mouth. mmm ---
**Author:** ![LSLGuy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/lslguy/32/5813_2.png) [@LSLGuy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LSLGuy)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 8:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-tvs-in-public-as-much-as-i-do/1033747/28 "2026-10-11T20:19:53Z")
Forgot about the dentist. Thanks for the reminder. My dentist has those screens in each exam room. They used to play some YouTube channel that was drones flying through pretty scenery around the world. The beach town they’re in has beach webcams. So they now are often streaming that. So you’re seeing real time surf, sand, sky, and people a couple miles away. The cam has sound, so you hear waves, a bit of wind, and the occasional squawky seabirds. In all, kinda nice. I think I prefer the drones, as the scenery isn’t familiar. But I increasingly wonder if any of that footage is real, or is all AI generated plausible scenery resembling e.g. Tuscany? The sky is too clear, the depth of field uncanny, etc. ---
**Author:** ![madmonk28](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/madmonk28/32/20811_2.png) [@madmonk28](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/madmonk28)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 8:41pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-tvs-in-public-as-much-as-i-do/1033747/29 "2026-10-11T20:41:52Z")
> [@Thumper668](#): > > have my own idiosyncrasies in public places like restaurants and bars. I really hate making small talk, even with people I know and like (and they know that about me). I also find the drone of background noise from hundreds of conversations very uncomfortable. If there’s a TV on somewhere it gives me something to focus on to help ignore the background drone. Even if it’s a game I don’t care about or news I’d rather not pay attention to. Then why not stay home and watch TV? ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 8:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-tvs-in-public-as-much-as-i-do/1033747/30 "2026-10-11T20:45:43Z")
> [@madmonk28](#): > > Then why not stay home and watch TV? In 90% of circumstances that’s just what I do. It’s not always an available option so when I find myself in those situations I’m grateful for the ability to tune out. ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-tvs-in-public-as-much-as-i-do/1033747/31 "2026-10-11T20:56:10Z")
Many people have been thoroughly conditioned to want to avoid being alone with their thoughts, even for an instant. Silence must be drowned out. ---
**Author:** ![xtenkfarpl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/c2a13f/32.png) [@xtenkfarpl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/xtenkfarpl)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 8:56pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-tvs-in-public-as-much-as-i-do/1033747/32 "2026-10-11T20:56:37Z")
> [@Llama\_Llogophile](#): > > Does anyone actually like having TVs around in public? What is this TV thing of which you speak? I thought that was something they had last century. I certainly don’t have one in my house. ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 9:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-tvs-in-public-as-much-as-i-do/1033747/33 "2026-10-11T21:54:39Z")
I need to understand: you go to have a meal with (friends?) and everyone must eat in silence? ---
**Author:** ![echoreply](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/echoreply/32/3641_2.png) [@echoreply](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/echoreply)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-tvs-in-public-as-much-as-i-do/1033747/34 "2026-10-11T22:00:06Z")
> [@LSLGuy](#): > > some YouTube channel that was drones flying through pretty scenery around the world. Reasonably frequently it’s a channel that runs alternating videos of epic scenery, cute animals, and extreme sports tricks. It’s interesting enough to watch for a few minutes if for some reason there isn’t anything else worth looking at. Like others the blaring sound bothered me far more than just some flashing screens, and fortunately that seems to be a thing of the past. Or I’ve just stopped going to places with loud TVs. ---
**Author:** ![Thumper668](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thumper668/32/20803_2.png) [@Thumper668](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thumper668)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 10:08pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-tvs-in-public-as-much-as-i-do/1033747/35 "2026-10-11T22:08:18Z")
> [@Sylvanz](#): > > I need to understand: you go to have a meal with (friends?) and everyone must eat in silence? No. But no one should expect me to have anything to say about the weather (for example). And my silence shouldn’t be interpreted as significant. ---
**Author:** ![Sylvanz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/fbc32d/32.png) [@Sylvanz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Sylvanz)\ **Post date:** [October 11, 2026, 10:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-tvs-in-public-as-much-as-i-do/1033747/36 "2026-10-11T22:09:25Z")
Gotcha. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 1:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-tvs-in-public-as-much-as-i-do/1033747/37 "2026-10-12T01:03:31Z")
> [@Dewey\_Finn](#): > > There was something called [CNN Airport](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/CNN_Airport) in many airport terminal gate areas, but that went out of business about five years ago, because most people have a smartphone or other streaming device of their own. Thanks. I remember CNN Airport well. ---
**Author:** ![Voyager](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/voyager/32/133_2.png) [@Voyager](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Voyager)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 1:05am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-tvs-in-public-as-much-as-i-do/1033747/38 "2026-10-12T01:05:42Z")
> [@echoreply](#): > > Reasonably frequently it’s a channel that runs alternating videos of epic scenery, cute animals, and extreme sports tricks. It’s interesting enough to watch for a few minutes if for some reason there isn’t anything else worth looking at. A noodle place near me ran videos of Chinese cooking in a rustic setting. Actually soothing, appropriate and informative. That’s the very top of restaurant videos I’ve ever seen. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 1:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-tvs-in-public-as-much-as-i-do/1033747/39 "2026-10-12T01:42:15Z")
> [@Thumper668](#): > > I have my own idiosyncrasies in public places like restaurants and bars. I really hate making small talk, even with people I know and like (and they know that about me). I also find the drone of background noise from hundreds of conversations very uncomfortable. If there’s a TV on somewhere it gives me something to focus on to help ignore the background drone. Nothing wrong with your personally preferring to have some “blur noise” if ambient conversation is uncomfortable for you, but that sounds like a problem that’s better solved with individual earphones than by blaring TV broadcasts at rooms full of people who mostly don’t want them. Now that personal entertainment technology makes it possible for almost anyone anywhere to look at and listen to media of their individual choice in a way that doesn’t bother other individuals nearby with unwanted sound and images, there’s really no excuse for broadcasting images and sound to a whole room via a big TV anymore. Sure, if you’re a sports bar owner and screens full of game broadcasts all around the room are a deliberate part of your ambience, go for it: nobody has to come to your bar if they’re not into that. But there’s zero valid reason to do the captive-TV-audience thing in a medical waiting room or other public place. (My guess as to why it’s still done is that waiting rooms are disproportionately occupied by the elderly (sniffs the sixtysomething) who are conditioned to expect something being broadcast at them at all times in any room they’re in, and don’t know how to work the personal devices that will provide individual viewing/listening. As the more smartphone-savvy generations age into seniority, presumably there will be less demand for ubiquitous Rando TV broadcasts for the tech-illiterate.) ---
**Author:** ![BippityBoppityBoo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bippityboppityboo/32/5745_2.png) [@BippityBoppityBoo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/BippityBoppityBoo)\ **Post date:** [October 12, 2026, 2:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-tvs-in-public-as-much-as-i-do/1033747/40 "2026-10-12T02:34:12Z")
> [@BippityBoppityBoo](#): > > The ones I hate the most are in doctor’s or dentist’s waiting rooms where you’re stuck, often for a fair bit of time, if you want to get care, unlike a restaurant where you can just leave. @Kimstu I’d implore you to reexamine your stereotypes about the elderly considering I, a distinctly elderly person, posted this in the 6th post of this very thread. I, in my decrepitude, am smartphone savvy, I even operate a smartwatch. I’m not tech illiterate, although I will cop to being a tech peasant at times and the only device that can broadcast anything at me at home is a vintage CD player for playing secular Christmas music during the month of December. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-tvs-in-public-as-much-as-i-do/1033747.md?page=1) [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-you-hate-tvs-in-public-as-much-as-i-do/1033747.md?page=3)