A recent poll showed that only 52% of Americans believe that TV is a necessity ^[1]. I say “only” because this is the lowest number since the question was first asked 35 years ago. I also say “only” because I don’t believe the number is accurate.

Watching TV is like taking a nap: most people love doing it, but few admit that fact publicly. (For the record: I LOVE taking naps). Most studies have shown that the average American watches hours of TV a day, but I’ve yet to meet the person who admits to watching more than about an hour in a day. I know that when I was a big TV viewer I usually didn’t realize how long I was camped out in front of the boob tube – that device has the ability to warp the space-time continuum, turning “a half hour” into 2 hours. When I got rid of our TV, I literally felt like I had more hours in my day.

(I also wonder how much the drop in the poll is due to other ways of accessing entertainment. I don’t own a TV, but I can watch just about all the latest shows on the Internet if I wanted – heck, you can even watch many of them on an iPhone! It might be that people – especially young people – have just transferred their viewing to another screen.)