So what do you do in the evening, then?

[davywavy]

In the comments to my post the other day, I mentioned that I don't own a TV. This is unusual - figures from the TV licensing people suggest that 99.5% of households in the country have a telly in them and such is the ubiquity of the gogglebox that the Joseph Rountree Foundation uses non-ownership of one as an indicator of poverty (this surprises me, as the people I know who don't own a TV tend to be both better educated and in better jobs than the average).
The are distinct advantages to not owning a TV. I don't run the risk of wasting my time watching witless crap like Eastenders, X-Factor, Big Brother or the new Doctor Who, and anything decent like Life on Mars I can pick up DVDs of at Cash Converters six months after they come out.
What was interesting about my comment was that it pulled out a number of other people on my friends list who don't own TV's. According to the above statistic, only one person in every 200 should be telly-less, and so I should only have one person reading me who doesn't as opposed to several which seems to be the case.

So, to satisfy my curiosity:

[Poll #1070038]

Comments

[drplokta]

You left out "I own a TV to watch DVDs and play games on, but it's not tuned or connected to an aerial and so I don't have to pay for a license."

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Nobody's perfect!

[(Anonymous)]

I have a 14" TV which I don't watch, in order to pay a licence fee which pays for radio 4.

Actually, I have been watching Heroes. It's not very good.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Heroes is kinda like Firefly - a bunch of low-level player character archetypes and the DM's girlfriend's 21st-level, impossibly attractive character have adventures designed to appeal to the geek fraternity.

[vulgarcriminal.livejournal.com]

It's better than Firefly, not nearly as smug and actually funny.

(Ducks and hides from angry nerds.)

[elbly.livejournal.com]

But I'd do the cheerleader given half the chance...

Mmmmmmm! nubile cheerleaders! mmmmmmmmmm!

[astartesyriaca.livejournal.com]

Speaking as a former DM's girlfriend, I found these equal parts hysterical and embarrassing.

[elbly.livejournal.com]

Yes you do have to pay for a licence.

If you have had the reciever removed from the TV (which normally costs abotut £150) then you don't have to, but regardless of whether it is tuned in/connected to an aerial/non of the above, if it still has the ability to recieve signals if you did connect and tune then a liecence is required.

This was to close the loop hole for people who had the offical come round from de-tuning and removing the aerial while s/he was distracted.

This also includes Video recorders btw - we do not have a TV but we do have a video recorder, and as such we pay our licence fee. Why he won't take it to the man and have it's bits removed I'll never know!

[vulgarcriminal.livejournal.com]

I'm not convinced, there's nothing in THE LAW that says that and I had one of their drones confirm it when I actually cared.

Back in the day when we weren't watching television we refused to have the TV detuned. We found the best way to avoid the licensing people was not to answer the door. We did get an exception thingie once.... and shortly had the same threatening letters through the post box.

Their call centre is run by the same group of fuck ups that collect for the London congestion charge.

[elbly.livejournal.com]

Oh their call centre are monkeys, no question about it. And yes, you don't have to let the officials in when they come round - they have no warrent and are just pushy bastards, but last time I looked, there was something stipulating that if you had something that could recieve signals you had to cough up. Obviously this might just be well worded and not actually covered by law.

Since we listen to BBC Radio 2 (I'm a TOG and proud of it!) and I watch CSI when there's a new series out, but that's it. Of course I AM addicted to BBC costume dramas - but I buy them on DVD rather than watch them on TV. Mmmmm! Colin Firth in a wet shirt! Mmmmmmm!

[vulgarcriminal.livejournal.com]

Mmmmm, BBC costume dramas!

They're also claiming if you have a computer or a mobile phone, you have to pay a license fee. Apparently because these devices are capable of receiving a television signal. Uh-huh.

[drplokta]

No, I have a letter from TV Licensing confirming that you don't, and their FAQ here also implies it's OK: http://www.tvlicensing.co.uk/gethelp/faqs.jsp#link1

[zenmeisterin.livejournal.com]

The same applies to me here too. No licence fee becaise the TV sets in the flats are incapable of recieving a signal owing to 1) No external aerial in the building, 2) building blocks reception so all an internal aerial picks up is fuzz, 3) we don't subscribe to any cable/satellite networks.

[zenmeisterin.livejournal.com]

This option also applies to me.

[vulgarcriminal.livejournal.com]

I didn't used to watch television.... but then I got hooked on Newsnight.

[annwfyn.livejournal.com]

I own a TV, but I don't think I've actually used it for TV (as opposed to DVDs) more than once in the last month, which is about normal for me. I like DVDs tho. Films + popcorn in the comfort of one's own home is generally quite pleasant.

My overuse of the computer/internet, however, genuinely worries me at times. I think I'd get more intellectual stimulation from the TV, instead of just jacking myself into the little closed gossip circle that is LJ.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Livejournal is like Platos cave; people sitting round watching the flickering shadows on the wall of their friendslist, all the while trying to convince themselves that it is real whilst ignoring the glory that lies just outside.

[vulgarcriminal.livejournal.com]

That's....... beautiful.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

Why thank you - it's something I realised a long time ago, and have been waiting for the ideal moment to say it.

[astartesyriaca.livejournal.com]

I love this analogy. I've used the Cave for ages, but never applied it to LJ.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

It sums up a lot of the causes of drama that I see; I often just want to shout "It's not real, people! It's make-believe!", but then I realise that this would be futile so I go and have something to drink with some real people instead.

[daegaer.livejournal.com]

I own a television. I do not own any access to TV channels. It's a peripheral for my dvd player!

[janewilliams20.livejournal.com]

Technically, I think I own several TVs: or rather, "we" do. I haven't watched any of them for months. Dave stays glued to the box (CSI, war films....) I prefer words and sound to moving pictures. But the rest of the "I have gadgetry coming out the wazoo" option describes me pretty well.

[thegreenman.livejournal.com]

I own a TV, an elderly DVD player and two sat receivers (sat reception is a kind of geek hobby for me)

Mostly I watch BBC4 and a little BBC2, I suspect I am in the wrong demographic group for most of the content that is available to me....

I often watch in the evening with the sound down after the Green Lady has gone to bed, partly so as not to disturb her and partly because the stories I make up in my head for the images are usually more fun.

[davywavy.livejournal.com]

I used to do that when I shared a house with neilhist and godzuki; often we'd make up far better dialogue than the Tv was providing us with.