Is anyone else telly-free?

juliapenguin

Radio 4 and BBC Radio 7 here too!! I couldn't live without radio...

The radio and a library book and I'm in seventh heaven - I've always been a cheap date.

Jacey53

I.ve been thinking about going telly free recently. I don't have Sky, don't watch it regularly and prefer a book. I only usually watch the news and weather in the evenings.
Can anyone suggest a good radio news programme after 6:30 pm?
I have digital radio.

meanmarie

My chances of being TV free are slim to none....OH turns it on full blast (he is deaf in spite of two hearing aids ?) as soon as he gets up and spends the day flipping around the stations....we have Sky including sports as he couldn't miss any sports going on. Spend my day around the house or in the kitchen to prevent myself from going deaf listening to the 97 decibels or whatever he 'listens' to!

Jealous is my only reaction, I would love a quiet life, no tv, no radio, just me with my animals to speak to if I feel the need to hear a human voice

Marie

greenbee

I haven't had a TV since I moved here about 12 years ago. I've never watched it much, and can quite happily waste time reading, surfing the net and generally pottering about! They're also ugly and expensive...TV licensing gave up on me after about 5 years.

Like a lot of the people on here, I tend to have R4 on pretty much constantly and my brain tunes in to stuff it finds interesting and zones out when it gets boring. I've learnt a LOT from the radio, some useful, some not .

Difficult to name favourites - lots of one-offs are great, as are the plays and serials. Also the Food Programme, Gardeners' question time, moneybox, you and yours (sometimes) and the evening arts programmes. Technically I'm supposed to be working during the day, so my listening is a bit random.

Evening news - if you're after politics, Today in Parliament has just started... my cue to pack up and go to bed... there's only so much I can take of politicians!

Stephen_Leak

To all intents and purposes, I am. My Mum has it, but I spend most of my time online, cooking or out and about. When I get a place of my own, I have no intention of getting one. For £120 a year, it's just not worth it. I've had a look at what she can now get on her new digital TV, and the extra channels are even worse that the original 5. It's just digital wallpaper, chewing gum for the mind ...

Butterfly_Brain

Jacey53 wrote: »

I.ve been thinking about going telly free recently. I don't have Sky, don't watch it regularly and prefer a book. I only usually watch the news and weather in the evenings.
Can anyone suggest a good radio news programme after 6:30 pm?
I have digital radio.

You can watch the news on bbc iplayer now

Butterfly_Brain

Stephen_Leak wrote: »

To all intents and purposes, I am. My Mum has it, but I spend most of my time online, cooking or out and about. When I get a place of my own, I have no intention of getting one. For £120 a year, it's just not worth it. I've had a look at what she can now get on her new digital TV, and the extra channels are even worse that the original 5. It's just digital wallpaper, chewing gum for the mind ...

The TV Licence is £142.50 a year and going up again in April :eek:

415SanFran

I haven't had a TV for at least the last ten years. Basically, ours broke and I could not afford a new one.

My children do lots of sports and play on the computer, me? well I'm really not sure how I fill the time, cooking, out and about, reading, quilting, other people seem to have more of a problem with it than I do. Most assume it is about money, it was to start with but not now. I would not have one back in the house for anything.

I was 10 years old before I ever saw one as a child so that helps.
Biggest problem I had was getting the licensing people to believe me, in the end I ORDERED them to look in every room. Never heard back from them since then.

Although everytime I speak to Virgin and they try to sell me a new package including TV I hear the totall horror in the voice of the young sales person.

pigpen

I have not had a tv since I left home 20 years ago.. hateful things!

I am basically too tight to pay the license fee. Anything we do want to watch we can watch of i-player after it has been shown in tv so we don't miss anything.. the children watch disney stuff on DVD on the pc and they play in the garden and read and roleplay with one another and develop their social skills..

I hate hate hate hate hate radio snore.. I'd rather stab out my eardrums than listen to the drivelling on.. I do so like the peace.. however my DAB radio found 'the arrow'.. plays halfway decent 'rock' stuff.. and there is always galaxy for a change.. but I am quite happy surfing the net, playing the occasional geeky pc game and between hospital appointments and school runs I don't really have time to do much other than the washing!

OH had bit of a culture shock when he moved here and had no tv.. but he hasn't died yet!! It is actually rather nice being about to just ahve a conversation!

TV licensing keep doing their bit by sending out a bill but in the last 20 years have only been to the house 3 times.. and haven't even bothered to come here! When we moved in the tv aerial was in the gutter lol.. then it went in the skip!

downshifter

Well I'm so glad I started this thread, what interesting replies - thank you so much. I think, like so many of you, I'm going to be a radio 4 person. I woke this morning to hear Claire Balding on one of her walks, what a lovely programme, followed by the farming programme, that was interesting too. I live in a farming area and expected it would be full of stuff about the price of lambs, inability to get planning permission and technicalities of tractors etc (which is what they talk about round here incessantly) so was pleasantly surprised by the Right to Roam discussion.

I started to get excited about Radio 7 too, until I discovered it is digital. Grr, Grr and thrice Grr. No Broadband, no digital radio. All we have here are sheep and plenty of fog!!

Anyway, thanks again to all contributors, lots of ideas.

DS