I’m one of the crowd who doesn’t have a TV, but has a LoveFilm (like Netflix but UK) subscription, and a PS3 with all the TV on demand options for more current shows.
I do feel that I have to explain that even though I don’t watch TV as it’s broadcast, I still have the capability and the desire to watch stuff, lest people perceive me as being smug about it.
There’s a problem from the other side, too - the vast number of people who *can’t conceive *that there are others who “don’t watch tv.”
I’ve lost count of the number of people who start a conversation about tv in general or some show I *surely *watched last night or *must *be an avid fan of… and it takes inordinate effort to get it across to them that you really, truly don’t watch tv. They will press and press and press, combined with arguments you really *should *(not be an idiot and) watch Seinfeld or Lost or Simpsons or something.
Unless you are unfailing polite and let them not only recount the hilarious/moving shocking episode (and a few more for context) and nod-and-smile at their insistence you should watch it… you are likely to trip their “goddamn tv snob” sensors. I get very tired of both outcomes, and there are far more “everybody watches tv” boors that there are “I don’t watch tv” snobs.
ETA: Jophiel’s got another facet of it - the “I don’t watch tv” watchers who are even bigger boors about it because they think they’re anti-tv snobs.
I’ve seen this sort of trend, especially online, but frankly, I think it falls into any other category of people bragging about having or not having something. If you brag about it, you’re a jerk, if you don’t, who cares?
There’s plenty of legitimate reasons for not owning a TV. If you still watch shows and videos, but get it online instead, that’s cool. If you just aren’t interested in the medium and prefer reading or music or cooking or gardening or whatever, that’s cool. If it’s a question of economics, or beliefs, or whatever, that’s cool. But I don’t really see how that sort of stuff is particularly relevant to most conversations. That is, if you’re still watching the popular TV show, but seeing it on Netflix or Hulu, I don’t see how watching it on a computer monitor or a TV is a meaningful to a conversation about TV or film. If you prefer some other activity, then you should talk about that, not about something that you don’t care about.
So that’s the part I don’t get. There’s some things in our society that are, for all practical reasons irrelevant distinctions, like what you use to watch a show or film, or are purely subjective, like various hobbies, yet there’s some sort of group of people, often associated, rightly or wrongly, with hipsters, that act like there’s some inherent superiority to that choice. Somehow watching TV makes one an idiot, even if that person spends that time watching educational shows, news, and film. Somehow choosing to indulge in a hobby like reading, music is treated as a superior one to TV shows and films. But all that is is painting with a broad brush in the former case, assuming all TV-viewers watch the obnoxious mindless crap all the time, or asserting opinion as fact in the latter.
So, sure, most people who don’t own one are pretty cool about it, but as with any group that gets a bad image like this, there’s a few obnoxious ones that ruin it for everyone. Besides, chances are the sort of people who are smug about not watching TV are probably smug about some other “lifestyle choices” they’ve made. So I’d rather not just clump all those people together and see non-TV owners like that and, instead, isolate those smug jerks and label just those people as such.
Do you only talk to people from 2004? 
See… this is what the OP is getting at. You basically put television down three different ways in the same sentence- uninteresting, waste of time, unproductive. You go on to say something about YouTube videos which seems to totally contradict the first statement, and to me anyway, makes it more clear that you’re being condescending about television in particular.
I don’t watch a lot of TV to begin with, and I’d probably watch even less if my wife and I didn’t watch some shows together (shows I’d probably forego if not for her).
That doesn’t mean that I have some issue with television- I just prefer to surf the web or play on the Xbox to watching most television shows. I don’t trumpet that I’m not a huge TV or movie watcher- it’s not something I feel superior to anyone about, and I fully realize that the other things I prefer to do are a wash in terms of whether or not they’re productive or anything like that.
I think someone who has no video display in their house is not only missing out on being able to watch films and TV shows and documentaries and other interesting and educational content, but they are actually diminishing their lives.
I made a thread once asking for any evidence watching TV was bad for you, and I don’t think any could be found.
I think the real mind killer isn’t TV, the real mind killer is boredom and lack of stimulation.
I got rid of cable and I really miss getting all the baseball games. But that’s ALL I miss. And six months of baseball isn’t worth a year of $60/month cable bills. Sorry, MLB. I’ll listen to the radio and watch the Cardinals when they’re back on network TV channels next postseason.
On the other hand, we’re in the golden era of television. Between Netflix, Amazon, Hulu and Pirate Bay, you can find all sorts of quality TV shows that are worth watching. The years of Fawlty Towers reruns being the smartest thing on television are over. TV finally came into its own as an artistic medium, and the snobs are missing out. And with DVRs and online streaming, commercials are a thing of the past, too.
So that was last year. Here’s way back in 2004:
And it was even a Stuff White People Like. Hell, growing up in the “cooler than thou” early 90s I was very familiar with the idea of not owning a TV being equated with smugness. You know what’s smug, OP? Thinking you’re the only one who notices something that’s actually a common trope.
I have a TV, as a physical entity, but it’s not hooked up to anything other than my DVD player… and that’s mostly for when I have house guests who want some background noise while they fall asleep. I watch the shows I want to watch online, sans commercials, but I’m not above turning the cabled TV on at my parents’ or sister’s house. It doesn’t really come up in conversation unless the cable company calls and tries to offer one of their deals. Actually, right after my sister move out, she took the TV with her and I had the local cable company calling for a good six months and it wasn’t until I told the last one that I didn’t have a TV, that they stopped calling. $1 a month for the next 12 months wouldn’t have done me any good back then!
I went through a time in college when I didn’t own a TV mainly because I was too busy studying and didn’t have any money to spare for buying a TV. I rode a bike to campus because I didn’t own a car. A relative later glommed on to the idea that they’re being maverick by not owning a TV or a car. Instead they watch TV at bars and other people’s houses, take taxis and bum rides off of friends who own cars. That’s really sticking it to the bourgeoisie.
Just my opinion. Plus, you don’t know the kinds of YouTube videos I watch. I do consider them somewhat more exciting than, from what I can gather, many TV shows are (to me anyway).
I do watch some things on YouTube that other people would watch on TV, but not many, so there’s not much of a point in me getting a TV just to watch a few things I can watch online anyway.
Also, I can’t stand many genres of TV shows, such as reality shows and sitcoms with annoying laugh tracks.
I don’t like reality shows or sitcoms either. What’s your point?
As far as reading being superior, I have one word for you: Twilight. 
Seriously, you really think that watching the evening news is inferior to THAT literary masterpiece?
I think her point is that she doesn’t feel she needs a television.
MLBtv is on streaming and quite reasonable, except that local games are blacked out. I got it early last season to watch the Giants and Red Sox… and discovered how hard it is to be an east coast fan of a west-coast team in realtime, and that we were within the blackout zone for the BoSox. Canceled it after a month. Oh, well.
I would post to this thread but I don’t have an internet connection. Haven’t had one for years, don’t miss it.
Yeah, I thought of that too. The blackout restrictions means that they won’t show me the games I want to watch, making it pointless. I could try using a proxy to get around the restrictions, but their policies tell me they don’t want my money, so why should I work hard to give it to them?
This. I mentioned the social exclusion in post #2.
If someone was to tell me, “I don’t own a TV,” my response would probably be, “Do you still watch TV programs (i.e. using some sort of On Demand system with your computer, although watching them on DVD/Blu-Ray might count as well)?”.
The concept of “tv” is an important element in some material I am writing. I devoted an entire chapter to redefining the term to what it means in 2013. 
Back in the early 70’s I didn’t own a TV - never really bragged about it, though. The reason for no TV in the house was that I had two children in grade school who were just learning to read. So no TV - and they are now both voracious readers who would much rather read a book than watch the basically mindless drivel on the tube.
Except for the Seahawks, of course. Exciting, even when they loose!