To TV or not to TV?

Well. That is the question.

(Pic taken from here)

For the past 9 months or so I've happily been without a TV. When I moved here to Tunbridge Wells, I made a conscious decision not to buy a TV. I am reading lots of good books, I'm (usually) running a fair amount, I'm listening to the radio, and I'm watching media on my macbook. So, in short, I am consuming a good amount but it's spread across a range of different media channels.

A converged media mix is the norm in current times.

In the past I'd consume media from one or two main sources. The TV was a big part of this. Before I had SKY, I'd flip between the 5 main channels and see what was on. I'd have my favourites that I'd try and watch, but I've never been one of those people that decides their social life around their TV consumption. My TV consumption fitted around my social life and it was rare I'd miss anything I was too bothered about. When SKY+ revolutionised the TV on demand sector I thought it was amazing. I could plan my TV consumption fully around my social life. This meant I could just watch the things I wanted to watch and not have to watch stuff that I didn't really want to watch. After a while I fell out of love with it though, and I think it's for a simple reason: context.

You see, I knew I loved programmes like Screenwipe or Mythbusters, because when I stumbled across them it was a great feeling. I'd found something I really liked amongst the dross of other programmes. But, take away that dross and you take away the context.

If you only watch brilliant things all the time, then 'brilliant' becomes a meaningless word.

A TV-heavy media mix is soooooo last millenia.

So, with that in mind I'd like to conduct a straw poll in the comments below. Why should I buy a TV? And, just as importantly, why do you have a TV in your home? For the people reading who are in the Advertising industry like me - how has your TV consumption changed massively over the past few years and how has this impacted on your work?

As a Planner I always approach every brief from a media-neutral angle. Every single one. So if I do this for my clients, shouldn't I practice what I preach and live the same way? With a TV as part of my media choice, but not dominating it?

Comments

[Sam]

A conundrum of a post, if you will Mr. Hadfield.

I watch less TV than ever before. But there are reasons for this, aside from me being a lazy bum.
1) The majority of tv shows I watch are preempted in the US, so I watch them online when they're broadcast there, I don't want to wait.
2) I watch movies at the movies generally. Orange 2 for 1 helps :)
3) Sport is a communal watching affair, and for the NFL which no-one here likes much, I watch it all online, nfl.com has great hd live streaming.

The TV that I do watch is all Sky plussed, even if I'm sitting down to watch something I'd rather press pause and go do something for 10 minutes so I don't have to watch the ads :) Should I really admit to this behavior?

The one exception is sometimes I'll watch the news on TV, but usually only if it's of the breaking variety. If I read about it on the web, I'll turn the TV on, sometimes to see who wins the race for info, and partly because the Beeb and Al Jazeera can bring analysis of a situation quicker than it can be written online.

I think you can keep with TV without having one. And the ads are mostly utter shit. So are you really missing out by not having at TV?

Samson votes no.

[neil b]

I like your point about - 'brilliant' becoming a meaningless word. Most TV is about escapism, and sometimes a bit of escapism means watching drovel on the box. But its a balancing act I've been trying to read more to balance with the crap I watch. I'm 4 books deep this year, and I'm up to still up to date with QI & The Simpsons.

You can't beat a big screen either. Personally I can't get used to iPlayer or movies on my laptop, I spend all day looking at the bloody thing - I don't want to look at it at home.

I don't have Sky, just a basic digital receiver - and yes I should get the little adapter to hook my TV and laptop. But the other factor is my girlfriend, she loves watching good old fashioned TV, we're rather sadly into Silent Witness on the BBC on Thursday and Friday nights at the mo - it is perfect winter TV, slightly crappy but half well done and it keeps you in suspense.

I say get a TV and don't be hard on yourself for watching a bit of channel 207 with the repeats of programmes you've seen many a time before.

[neilperkin]

I've also found that I watch less TV than ever but, strangely, I'm paying more for it than I ever have (I have Sky). This is a conundrum I question all the time. TV can be utterly brilliant, and I'd hate to be without the best bits of it, but like you say, there are many places you can get those bits now. And its becoming rarer and rarer to serendipitously come across a great show you never knew was so good. There's so much poor quality stuff. So like Sam, I don't think you're missing anything. As for me, as we watch less and less scheduled TV, and watch stuff on the internet, box-sets etc I think there may well come a time when I'll cancel the Sky sub and go and do something else more interesting instead.

[Willem]

You could have a TV to watch content on a larger screen than your computer, or a projector does a great job for that if you have a free white wall.

When I used to have a TV, it was only a screen to watch DVDs and also had my computer plugged into it to watch other videos. Now, I just use my computer as I don't have a TV anymore - my flatmate has his in the living room but I've living there for over a year and have never used it.

My TV consumption over the past few years hasn't really changed much, it's just gone from little to none. I think the last that my media consumption habits have really revolved around TV was when I was a kid and probably up to being a teenager.

About practicing what you preach, I don't think that's the same as you deciding to have a TV or not, nor anything else about your own media consumption, unless you want it to. You are not necessarily your client's audience. Not having a TV doesn't mean you can't recommend TV for a client, and I agree with Sam, you can keep up with what's going on; you're never far from someone who knows a lot more about TV whom you can ask questions to if needed; and the ads are crap.

I think about screen size and type for video consumption, but TV itself is out, so I'd vote no.

But you choose, do whatever you prefer.

[Grumblemouse]

Werd - I've got an amazing TV - the screen is like 9" square, it has a built in VHS player and the whole thing is about a foot deep. I'm fairly sure that if you tried to do anything funky like hook it up to sky it would break but that's kind of how I like it.

There's some amazing shit on TV - my favorite being those weird game / competition / wordsearch things that are on about 2am - have you ever watched one? Amazing. Apart from that I don't watch the TV.

Podcasts have exploded the amount of audio content available, iTunes U is amazing and then most TV / documentaries etc can be watched online and god bless megavideo et al.

That said I don't know how well served sports stuff is online - and every now and again it's good to watch Superman 24 on a Sunday just because it's on - but yeah once you plug into everything that's available online and start building your own programming schedule you quickly realise you can get everything without a TV and there's barely enough time to catch all the quality without accidentally wasting an hour on Celebrity Fitness Wife Swap School

Grumblemouse, he say don't bother.

[Mattkandela]

Why buy a TV?

Watching television isn’t just about content. It’s an unwind moment. It’s lying on the sofa. It’s Sunday. It’s being hungover. It’s being with friends. It’s waiting for that programme to start that you’ve been waiting for all week. the one you want to see 'live'

Television is social. Having your friends round to watch the footie. Trying to establish who is sitting on the remote control. Fighting for the last spot on the sofa.

[charlie gower]

I don't have a TV but as a planner, i think you should have one. It's your job to swim in the mainstream!

I don't see myself watching broadcast again...
I'll only watch my own curated channel nowadays. Time for me is too precious to be channel surfing.

"If you only watch brilliant things all the time, then 'brilliant' becomes a meaningless word."

or
brilliant becomes all you can tolerate!

Different perspectives, different results...

[Will]

Humphrey votes Yes. (Only for the live sport and Blu Ray).

[Anjali Ramachandran]

Personally, I wouldn't need one. I only have one because my husband insists on one to watch all the footie on Sky Sports!

Interestingly, though, TV is the one thing I find useful to catch good ads on TV. Though I work in the field (roughly), I don't catch too many ads online unless they are repeatedly flagged as being good on Brand Republic and so on. And sometimes I don't like the recommended ones. So it's a paradox of sorts. Still, I can definitely live without them.

Movies I watch at the movies or on DVD (which you actually need a TV for - but then you can use your Mac for that)...and music I listen to purely online. Though in a bizarre twist of fate I listen to the radio via my TV (very rarely though!).

As a planner, you can catch a lot of the crap that passes for advertising, and therefore be clued into what NOT to do though!

[Chris]

Haven't had a television on the premises since the early '90s. Other than the general benefit of not having the Drug Of The Nation in the corner there is much entertainment to be had baiting the TV License people.

Anything that's worthwhile will be streamed or on a disk soon enough and there's radio for real-time events.