Anyone ever stop watching TV ?

[TatonkaJames]

As a writer I found myself watching the news, movies and Yankee games for quite a good portion of the day. With a couple
of projects in the making, about five weeks ago I turned the set off. I was getting frustrated with the spin from every
news station and I decided I was going to put 100% of my attention toward my writing. When I'm not writing, I read constantly.
After the first few days I was sort of getting withdrawal symptoms, I felt I was going to miss something worthy, not be up on the
latest, however they subsided with each passing day. So it's been five weeks and to my surprise I have no urge to watch one bit.
I may at some point decide to watch a game since I have to rest from sitting up since my back surgery but I prefer reading for ideas
with which to write about.
Anyone else ever stop watching ? For what reasons ? Have you gone back ?
Just wondering.

[Mojambo]

1. From about 1998-2002

It was okay. Read a bit more. Listened to a lot of radio.

Now the whole dynamic has changed I don't really watch TV. But I do watch certain tv shows that I download. I probably watch 10-12 hours a week.

[The empressof all]

2. I didn't watch TV from about 1973 to 1984

At the time I didn't miss it...I was busy with school and being young and rowdy. Now that I'm old I miss a lot of the popular culture references to that time and I couldn't name a TV show that I recall from that time. Am I better for having gone without. Probably not...But it did no lasting significant harm either.

Television is part of our culture. It is what it is. It becomes a problem when it controls your daily routine. We also now have a much wider selection of programming which gives us greater choice in what we allow into our homes. Thank goodness for Tivo.

[david13]

3. Dude, you bet. I have stopped watching many, many times. There

were even periods when I had no tv, or only a small one, or only I watched someone else's. It only makes it that much better when you go back to it.
But seriously, it's mostly trash and garbage. There is maybe 10 or 20% of it that has any value at all. But I never jump on the bandwagon with everyone else. "Oh, everybody's watching ..." whatever.
dc

[BJ10]

4. I tried earlier this year...

I removed my cable TV and I made it for over a month...best thing that ever happened to me because DirecTV is Awesome.

[Lydia Leftcoast]

5. I haven't stopped completely, but

the networks, including the cable networks, have gotten trashier and trashier (like I should care about the attractive but brainless exhibitionists on all those "reality" shows?), removing whatever intelligent content they used to have (there was a time when both Discovery and A&E rivaled PBS for fine documentaries and dramas, and Bravo centered on uninterrupted foreign films) and gone to sensationalism and air-headed content.

When BBC America went the reality show route (yes, I know they have them in the UK, but they have other things too), coincidentally with a slow period in my business, I canceled cable except for basic-basic (local channels, public access, and CNN only).

As a result, I watch PBS almost exclusively, except for the International Mysteries on MHz Worldview TV, but even more than that, I watch DVDs, either from my own collection (I have ordered several series from the UK) or from Netflix.

Between my mail order queue and the movies/programs in my Instant View queue, who has time for broadcast TV?