Does anyone actually watch TV live anymore?

[Ludwig]

I now know exactly zero people who don't make use of a PVR or Hulu/TV station's websites to watch television shows. I also am a big fan of purchasing seasons of shows on DVD that I either missed or are too far along to get into live (The Wire, I am looking at you). I am wondering at what point TV studios will realize this and pull the plug on broadcasting in general. Having stuff internet-only or pay-per-download via Tivo/put out on DVD would seem to be more profitable than having to have thus huge infrastructure in place to actually beam live content out to the world.

Yeah we are miles away from this becoming a reality, but to me broadcast TV is becoming like the newspapers: a complete anachronism. I get all of my news online now, I haven't purchased a paper in years. I don't watch very much TV, but the shows I do watch I PVR or purchase DVD sets. My schedule is too crazy to commit to being in a certain place at a certain time to catch a show.

I was just thinking about all of this this morning and thought I would throw that out there. Are any of you in the same boat as me?

[Judas Booth]

I'd say that about 10% of the TV that I watch is live, that's it. '24' is pretty much the only show that I really make an effort to watch live. Everything else is DVR'd.

[Eyeball Kid]

Sports and 24 hour news networks are pretty much the last frontier of live TV. And plenty of people even DVR sporting events now. It's nice to use fast forward to watch a 3 1/2 hour football game in 30 minutes.

[Ratty]

I still watch a lot of live TV, esp. on nights where I have two shows on opposite each other. Most movies I watch on television, though, I DVR.

[KidNtheHelmet]

If it's a show I really like (Lost, Mad Men, probably Supernatural once I get caught up) I try to catch it live because I hate going to work the next day knowing its sitting there. It just makes the day unbearable especially on the Mondays I didn't watch Mad Men because I don't usually have a lot to do and like to read Seppinwall's and the AV Club's reaction to it.

[Martianman]

Originally Posted by Eyeball Kid

Sports and 24 hour news networks are pretty much the last frontier of live TV. And plenty of people even DVR sporting events now. It's nice to use fast forward to watch a 3 1/2 hour football game in 30 minutes.

I actually turn on the hometown feed of my favorite teams, then use my DVR to sync up the picture to the sound. Sometimes it works great, but then sometimes the radio break is a different length of time than the TV commercial break, then I have to re-sync it again.

Is it the lack of "event" programming in prime-time? Is there really a "must-see TV" night anymore? With all the crime dramas out there that are all an hour long, you can't have more than 3 a night on one channel, unless you're NBC, then you can only have two (thanks, Leno!). I don't watch much episodic television anymore anyway, but I will rent TV show DVD sets to catch up on something. Plus, a lot of the good shows aren't even on network TV anymore--Curb Your Enthusiasm, Dexter, Weeds, Madmen, etc.

[Princess Kate]

No.
If President Obama is speaking, I'll watch it because I get the networks in HD. Sometimes I'll watch a little cable news. Otherwise I stick with my HDDVD player, and my XBOX.

[gobblox]

LOST demands to be seen live (or as soon as possible after airing) because when it's over I love discussing what I just saw with others.

I like watching 24 live too (mainly because there's usually nothing else on Monday nights that I deem appointment-worthy, and Monday nights are one of the few when I'm at home and doing nothing else), but it's not really a big deal when I miss it. Otherwise, I'm watching the shows after they air, for the most part. Oh, for some reason I end up watching Nip/Tuck live as well, just because it's so damn ridiculous and fun to watch with my roommate who has been watching it since it started as well.

Supernatural, Fringe, Dexter, True Blood, Heroes (bleh), Flash Forward, Venture Bros, etc all get viewed when I get around to it throughout the week.

[Waaaaaaaalt]

Not really I pretty much DVR everything even if im home to see it. I can't stand commercials and I will do anything to escape them. The only thing I watch live is Dexter. But thats because it's on sunday right before I go to bed when im home and there are obviously no commercials.

[Teitr Styrr]

I would say it's about 50-50 for live TV and Hulu or the TV sites themselves.

[Frank The Tank]

I watch most shows live but I wait 8 minutes before watching a sitcom and 15 before starting an hour long drama so I can skip through the commercials and usually end up watching the last segment live.

[Dr. Murder]

http://www.thefutoncritic.com/rant.a...91007_10things

[Iron Maiden]

If my schedule permits it, I'll try to watch my shows live. I'm not much of a TV guy, though, and there are really only two shows I never miss an episode of: "Supernatural" and "Curb Your Enthusiasm." It's really not hard for me to make room for an hour and a half of programming each week.

"South Park" minght be the only show I can think of that I mostly watch online.

[jvc]

I'll watch sports on about a 20 minute delay so I can fast forward through commercials. When I'm caught up to real time, I'll often take a break for another 20 minutes or so. I rarely watch live tv, although I watch more than half the shows I record on the night I record them. Glee, Community, 30 Rock, and Top Chef never sit unwatched on my DVR longer than 1-2 hours.

[Diva]

Kinda. I start shows 20 minutes in so that I can fast forward through commercials.

[billylove]

If they are shows I subscribe to, I don't watch live.

Older shows I'm getting into I'll watch online or rent/borrow the series.

[RathBandu]

I used to watch TV live all the time in college and immediately after. Since then, I've bounced from DVR to Hulu/iTunes and the occasional torrent and I probably haven't watched live tv on a regular basis in at least a couple of years. This also ties into the fact that, for the most part, I watch more movies/TV on DVD and a lot less current TV than I used to (my current viewing is down to Community, Mad Men, and Friday Night Lights...although I need to catch up on Cougar Town and Modern Family.) I think the last thing that I watched as it was airing were the Oscars from this year.

About the only thing I would say this really affects is the late night shows, but I'm okay with catching the highlights.

[LisaNY]

I still watch my TV live - I don't have a DVR/Tivo, etc. If I miss something, I can generally catch it online.

[Ludwig]

Originally Posted by Diva

Kinda. I start shows 20 minutes in so that I can fast forward through commercials.

We used to do this with Biggest Loser, as the amount of ads on that show/extraneous BS was high and we liked to watch it on Tuesday nights together. Now we just watch BL and BL Australia from PVR recordings :P If you've never seen the Australian version of the show and you like the basic concept, I highly recommend it. They show them on the Slice network here in Canada.

[Ludwig]

Originally Posted by LisaNY

I still watch my TV live - I don't have a DVR/Tivo, etc. If I miss something, I can generally catch it online.

Do you watch your TV shows live with friends/family at all? I find that there are certain groups of friends that watch football this way simply for the excuse to socialize, which is cool. And no knock on you if you are watching by yourself, I was just curious!

[Sammy Jankis]

All I watch live are Sports and Lost. And I don't even have a dvr or tivo. I get everything else by dvd.

[Ludwig]

Originally Posted by Sammy Jankis

All I watch live are Sports and Lost. And I don't even have a dvr or tivo. I get everything else by dvd.

Interesting. Do you find that TV gets spoiled for you by people who do watch it before it comes out on DVD and talk about it before you get a chance to see it? Do you ever get tempted to watch stuff live at all?

I am going to be watching the new V: The Arrival series live, I am far too impatient to not do this I think, given the material and my interest in how this new series will play out.

[LisaNY]

Originally Posted by Ludwig

Do you watch your TV shows live with friends/family at all? I find that there are certain groups of friends that watch football this way simply for the excuse to socialize, which is cool. And no knock on you if you are watching by yourself, I was just curious!

No, that's okay - no knock taken! I do mostly watch my tv solo, because I'm getting home from work in the evening - that's when my bulk of TV watching takes place since it's mostly live. My boyfriend lives an hour away from me, plus he works a night shift, so we generally don't get to watch shows together till the weekend, so Mon through Fri I'm on my own. Plus, my friends and I differ on the shows we like. TV-wise, there's not a lot in common, so there's not a lot of evening "Hey, let's hang out at my place and watch such and such a show."

One of my friends is an exception - she's just as huge of a "Law & Order" (and all of it's spin-offs) as I am. She travels for business quite a bit, but when she's home, if one of us sniffs out a "L&O" marathon, we quickly call or text the other one. In fact, there was one Saturday when I had a couple of hours to kill before I headed out to my boyfriend's that she and I just slothed around texting to each other during a "L&O: SVU" marathon. "Hly sht! It's the Chad Lowe motherfucker episode!" This was after we'd just gone out shopping and had brunch together, but within a half hour, we were both back in our respective apartments texting during the marathon.

[Poulsonator]

Originally Posted by Ludwig

Interesting. Do you find that TV gets spoiled for you by people who do watch it before it comes out on DVD and talk about it before you get a chance to see it? Do you ever get tempted to watch stuff live at all?

I am going to be watching the new V: The Arrival series live, I am far too impatient to not do this I think, given the material and my interest in how this new series will play out.

I haven't had cable since January, so I've watched 99% of my tv shows via internet or the rare DVD. Never once have I been spoiled as I've found it easy to stay away from that talk. The best thing is the absence '1000 channels and nothing on' for $80 a month.

The only thing I miss is live sports. But even then I got my fixes via the internet (MLB.tv), NBC and CBS for streaming an amazing amount of high quality football, or going over to my friend's house. Even then, we'd buffer whatever game by 30 mins or so. Amazing inventions, that DVR and internet.

[BillyG]

I have DVR, and subscribe to most of my favorite shows, but I still catch the vast majority live or just a little after start time to skip commercials. I discovered quickly that if I just blow off watching shows when they come on then I will take weeks to catch up on the DVR. The DVR is basically there now for if something comes up and I happen to not be around during the first play.

[Sammy Jankis]

Originally Posted by Ludwig

Interesting. Do you find that TV gets spoiled for you by people who do watch it before it comes out on DVD and talk about it before you get a chance to see it? Do you ever get tempted to watch stuff live at all?

I am going to be watching the new V: The Arrival series live, I am far too impatient to not do this I think, given the material and my interest in how this new series will play out.

I've been spoiled on a couple of things, but most folks are careful to warn you before they ruin stuff. I'm watching season 3 of The Wire now and I know a couple of details about the season. Same with Dexter. Honestly, most of the shows I want to watch are on channels I don't get so there's little temptation.

Although I might start watching "It's Always Sunny" on hulu because I keep reading really good things.

[Rene (Mr.Eko)]

Lost is the only show I watch live on tv. It's about the only show I watch period since The Shield ended last November. I have been getting into The Big Bang Theory, but that's not anything I really need to watch on a weekly basis.

[matalo]

The only live TV I watch are any games I might watch (Football, Soccer, Hockey).

[Randolph Carter]

They stopped showing Conan O'Brien here in Sweden, so i torrent the show from the internet. Yeah, that's right, i'm breaking the law to get my Conan fix.

[Frank The Tank]

I cannot watch sports on DVR at all. It takes too much away from the gameday experience.

[BillyG]

I'm pretty much a slave to cable until the NBA offers league pass on the 360 or something like that.

[Farsight]

Originally Posted by Frank the Tank

I cannot watch sports on DVR at all. It takes too much away from the gameday experience.

I'm usually the same way, although the massive number of ads has gotten me in the habit of pausing the game for 30 mins, doing something else, then coming back and catching up. With the proper training, you still see the end live, but you avoid the BS. This is especially useful for the World Series, where I'm convinced that prolonged exposure to Buck and McCarver is like huffing paint for 3 hours straight.

Other than live shows, I can't even imagine watching TV w/o a DVR. I'd rather go from my cell phone back to a rotary phone.

There are three types of people in the world: Those that have DVRs, those that don't and pretend that nothing good is ever on TV, and the plebes!

[RathBandu]

Re: Spoilers. Even if you're as aware of what's going on with media, etc, as I am (or like to think that I am), you can do a pretty decent 'media blackout' when you're behind on a show. I'm three weeks behind on Mad Men, and I've done a pretty decent job of avoiding major spoilers.

[billylove]

Originally Posted by BillyG

I'm pretty much a slave to cable until the NBA offers league pass on the 360 or something like that.

I'm still batting around the idea of ditching cable and going with a bigger Netflix subscription and faster internet service. However, this is one thing that is preventing me, watching Football and Basketball games.

[Farsight]

I suspect satellite and cable providers are currently being entirely propped up by sports. If the NFL and MLB started internet viewing services that weren't insane ripoffs, Comcast & DirecTV et al would be in dire financial straits overnight.