TV on or off with visitors

ostrichnomore_2

Just for fun...bit of a debate.

Do you leave TV on when you have visitors? Always turn it off? Put it on for the visitors? Depends who they are and how long they are there? Depends what's on TV? Do you let kids have cartoons/games etc on when adults are visiting/talking?

What do you prefer if you are the visitor?

Tiglath

Turn it off, unless it's a longer visit and there's something specific they want to watch (or we're having a late night horror movie marathon). I prefer it turned off when I'm visiting.

aileth

Depends who it is. If it's my parents we always watch TV together after we've eaten and have a good chinwag about it. If it's my in-laws, I'll just put a music channel on with soft music. If it's a stranger (e.g. we interviewed a dog walker), then it's off.

At my mum and dad's house, we do much the same as I do with them. At in-laws, father-in-law has music on in the background, mother-in-law has TV has her partner is golf crazy and watches it 24/7. We really don't mind at all and I don't pay it any attention. I'd probably only be bothered if the person who I was visiting told me to 'shush' as her favourite bit was coming on, or there was a story climax or something.

If there's kids at father-in-laws, they normally play with the dogs or normal toys. If they ask to watch something, it gets put on but on a low volume so we can still have discussions.

Nicki

For someone who is visiting but not staying overnight then off in all circumstances whether or not my 3 year old wants to watch cartoons. If we have guests staying for a few nights with us then it might go on in the evening to watch something specific with them but otherwise also mostly off. If I visited someone and they left theirs on it would seem rude to me.

Desperado99

off. people don't come to my house to watch telly.

caevans

Always turn it off if we have visitors, it's a pet hate of mine! A few friends with kids always have the tv on (but not necessarily watching), which I don't see the point of. I am easily distracted and don't have the best hearing in the world, so need relative quietness so I can focus on what others are saying!

tyllwyd

If its a short visit, I'd like the tv off, but if it's longer I'm happy with it on.

It does depend who is visiting as well - my hearing is perfectly OK in everyday situations but I'm aware it isn't quite 100%, and I sometimes find it very difficult to cope with background noise from the tv and conversations at the same time. That's going to be the same for a lot of people as they get older, so I'd always be conscious of whether the visitor seems to be struggling to follow the conversation.

victor2

Off.... Unless the visitor is OH's friend and her hubby is an F1 fan and there's a race on, then we sit down and watch the race while they natter endlessly in the other room.

red_devil

i like something in the background when visiting otherwise its so deathly quite

victory

Off for visitors, if the stay is long then on for the TV shows they like to watch but the visitors came to chat not for TV:D

SmlSave

Please turn the TV off - I can't concentrate and have a conversation with it on, no matter what the program/music is!

We always turn ours off when people are round unless they've been with us for hours and there's something we all want to watch.