The No TV Nation

Are you a member of the "No TV Nation"? Have you given up cable and satellite TV? Do you get all your premium and network shows from Netflix, Hulu, iTunes, or some P2P site? Do you miss it?

I've been a member of the No TV Nation since 2006. The best thing we've ever done. Don't get me wrong - I love TV. My family gets plenty of screen time. We may not be watching season 2 of Glee with the rest of you, but we gorged on season 1 via Netflix. We may be behind on what is going on with Mad Men, but we have watched every single episode available from Netflix (along with The Wire, Weeds, Dexter, Big Love, The L Word, Brotherhood, Deadwood….you get the point).

We get plenty of video, but the video we consume is selected and curated. My brain loves television - and I'll watch it if it is available. First thing I do when staying at a hotel room is turn on the TV and start surfing. If I had access to cable or satellite TV I have no doubt that surfing would be my preferred form of relaxation. Being cable/satellite disconnected forces me to make choices about what I watch, actively search out my TV media, and find alternatives to surfing the remote.

Fact is, there are so many ways available to get good TV that subscribing to a monthly service no longer makes sense. Opting out of the monthly cable/satellite deal will change how you consume media. Alternative screens such as iPads or Touches become more attractive. You learn that the size of the screen does not diminish the movie/show watching experience - that holding a screen in your hand makes the show more personal and immediate.

The big difference, at least for me, is that I no longer watch sports on TV. I used to love watching football. TV sports are a strong addiction. But if I want to watch sports I'm now forced to find a public TV, a place where lots of people are watching. This summer I brought my girls to campus to watch the World Cup in a student TV lounge. A great cultural experience. But mostly I've broken my TV sports addiction. It took a couple of years - but over time you will find that you don't really miss it that much. Besides, more sports are migrating to the Web. The biggest fans can buy online packages to watch professional sports - and still end up paying less than a monthly cable/satellite bill.

Lacking the easy access to TV, my family has found we fill up the hours with other things. We sit and read more together. We play board games, or the Wii. A family DVD movie is a real treat. We go to bed earlier. We have more time. TV sucks the hours, people with cable/satellite watch more TV than they think they do.

I've been meeting more and more people who are members of the "No TV Nation". People who have decided they don't need to pay the monthly bill, and are perfectly happy getting their shows from other sources. I'm betting that the size of No TV Nation will grow, as today's college students seem to be disinclined to sit in front of television and watch scheduled programming. They download and stream, pulling what they want, when the want, on the device they want.

Are you a member of the No TV Nation?