I currently have 2 other roommates and none of them watch the TV in our room ever, neither did my old summer roommate and most of my previous rommates in the last couple years.
When I stayed at the school for my break, they put us in a lounge with about 10 students and students rarely even touched the TV. Most of my friends rarely watch TV and when they do want to watch something then they go on netflix, hulu or something (like me).
I rarely watch TV because the vast majority of TV is so ridiculous and low brow to me. - Those reality shows are really stupid now, especially those “wives” shows that showcase 35-55/yr old women acting like they’re 16.
They ruined the history channel and turned it into the hillbilly channel.
The travel channel is now almost exclusively about food.
The news is the same depressing crap.
The comedians on Comedy Central are now starting to get extra-racist
Maury, Jerry Springer and those judge shows are the same ole crap…no switching up the judges will not make it more interesting
Add a crapload of commercials inbetween all these programs and there ya have it!!
I can’t believe the day has come where few young adults watch TV anymore. I’m glad b/c when I was younger, I planned on spending the rest of my life glued to the TV.
There is a Pew research study out that finds Millennials are not using traditional forms of communication much, if at all. Television, newspapers and magazines, direct human contact, etc. Their lives are quite self-entitled and focused on extensive use of smartphones and non-direct human contact, i.e., texting, for example.
When I was attending a large University, back in the dark ages before the World Wide Web, smartphones, or even most cable channels, we hardly ever watched T.V. Almost no one had a T.V. in their room, and the T.V. in the lounge was used primarily for daytime soaps or sports. I think that there is so much going on in college, and so many new experiences to try, that T.V. just isn’t of much interest to college students.
I do remember gathering to watch David Letterman (the original Late Night) after we’d finished our studying/partying.
I didn’t see much TV watching going on in college 10+ years ago. Each dorm had a lounge with cable, but they didn’t get much use. I would say college students probably watch more visual media now than then, due to internet viewing.
Was their supposed self-entitledness something that was coincidentally revealed in this same Pew study, or is there supposed to be some sort of connection? Because I don’t see how changing your modes of communications inherently makes one self-entitled…
Yeah, they’re all on the Internet. And why not? You don’t see a heroin addict bothering with that six pack of beer when he’s a got a barrel of smack sitting in his living room.
As a child, the parents hated each other, so things social did not happen. After dinner, the TV came on and stayed on.
College: TV’s not permitted in rooms, the dorm’s lounge was a small room used for making out.
The TV in the Union was watched for 2 shows - All in the Family and SNL.
Post-college. Did not own TV for 30 years or so. Final viewing was Simpsons and MacNeil-Lehrer.
Simpsons went to hell and I switched to web for news.
Still have the old CRT - never even connected a digital-analog box.
Kids aren’t watching anything that isn’t inter-active? Good for them.
Hopefully, TV will decide the best way to deal with declining viewership is NOT to make the cheapest crap possible* and try to come up with intellectually stimulating programs.
It won’t happen - another 30 years of “watch people worse off than yourselves” or re-runs of Lavern and Shirley.
(no, I have never seen any “reality” show except early COPS, and can only guess as to production methods).
“Reality” or “Court Room” - no need to pay real actors, virtually no sets; find hillbillies and pay a camera operator and maybe another 2-3 people.
Kids don’t watch network programming that often if they have cable. And they only watch the shows that they like or that their friends like on cable. They mainly use the television as the game screen for their PS4 and X-Boxes and occasionally if they want to watch a DVD or stream a movie to a larger screen.
If the networks made shows aimed at teenagers then they might get some teenager viewers back. However, that would require extensive re-tooling off their business models and it would also require that they hire younger management to do so.
Heh, I went to college in the Jurassic era when there wasn’t any cable Some people did have TVs in their dorm rooms, but I can’t recall anyone glued to them. The big thing in the dorm was gathering in front of the TV in the lounge every Wednesday night for Dynasty and Friday night for Dallas. Throw in a sporting event every so often and a small crowd of people who watched the WWF every Saturday morning. Otherwise, that TV was silent.
I have a youngster in college, and never really thought about it until this thread. Neither her nor her roommate have a TV, and I don’t recall seeing one anywhere in their dorm hall.
When they’re home, my kids use Netflix almost exclusively. If not, they’re watching something on their phones. (I have no idea what, though).
FWIW, the missus and I rarely watch broadcast TV either, having been driven away by the commercials (too many, and too inane). So who’s watching it now? I don’t even know what’s on anymore. (I used to have a pretty good idea of which shows aired when)
I guess it’s approaching ten years since DVRs and time-shifting first debuted. That’s enough for a generation of teenagers not needing to rely on watching TV live, so have a different attitude to TV than we old fogeys do.
Define “watch TV”. Some people seem to think that if you’re timeshifting, or using services like Netflix that you’re not “watching TV”.
I guess some would consider me an old fogey at this point, but I rarely watch live television. DVRing, and using On Demand and Roku are just too damned convenient compared to being tied to a schedule for my favorite programs.
I wonder how much of this is semantics. Young people watch shows and movies but don’t consider it “watching TV”.
My television watching habits in college were weird, but definitely existent. I remember running home to watch “Arthur”, of all things. Yes, a television show for children. But I liked the theme song! Then I’d flip to “St. Elsewhere” on TVLand.
In the evening, I’d watch a lot of Cartoon Network. Toonheads and Space Ghost Coast to Coast would get me through hours of calculus and chemistry homework.
Then I remember getting sucked into the miniseries “North and South”. Actually all the girls in my dorm did. I find it unwatchable now, but I guess I didn’t have discerning tastes back in those days.
Some people did have TVs in their dorm rooms, but I can’t recall anyone glued to them. The big thing in the dorm was gathering in front of the TV in the lounge every Wednesday night for Dynasty and Friday night for Dallas. Throw in a sporting event every so often and a small crowd of people who watched the WWF every Saturday morning. Otherwise, that TV was silent.