Keeping us entertained

We don't own a television.

We did have one when we lived in La Rochelle, so up until 2007.  But 99% of the time, it was used for watching films that we borrowed on VHS or DVD from the mediatheque.  Watching TV was never a big part of our day.

 

According to BARB (the Broadcasters Audience Research Board) there are 27.4 million households in the UK and 26.5 million of them (97%) have at least one television.  The average household now has 1.8 televisions, down from 2.0 ten years ago.  But they also have many more computers, which are capable of showing TV programmes and replays.

When people think of entertainment, the first stop is generally the TV.  In fact, over the last few years, viewing times have been increasing, and the average person in the UK now watches just over four hours of television a day.  I'll say that again, four hours a day.

If you imagine the average person's day - if there is such a thing - then that person gets up in the morning after, let's say eight hours of either sleep or the bit that goes at either end of sleep - having a drink before going to bed, washing, teeth cleaning, reading a book in bed, all that stuff.

On an average weekday, our average person spends half an hour getting to work and half an hour getting home again, and they work eight hours, including their lunchbreak.  So they are away from the house for nine hours.  You can see what I'm getting at here.  So add those nine hours to the eight, you get seventeen, what's left is what might be described as disposable time - that which isn't spent working or sleeping or doing the bits at either end of those - about seven hours.  So more than half of that disposable time goes on watching television.

OK, so people may be doing something else while they're watching television, eating for instance.   Apparently 68% of the UK eats their evening meal in front of the television - no wonder there's not much family conversation any more.  But it's pretty likely that they're not doing anything important or creative whilst they're watching.  So the primary thing that they are doing is watching television.

Having started this with that statement that we don't have a television, I guess I am here in this topic as an observer and a commentator, rather than a practitioner.  However, I do spend on average  three nights a week in a hotel in London, and from time to time, I put the television on.  It's mostly for background, a bit of noise for company, or the breakfast time news to wake me up in the morning.  Sometimes a football match, if there's one on, or a documentary.  But what gets classified as "entertainment", never.  There is nothing which is more likely to make me reach for the remote control than a full-blown TV entertainment programme.

I may be in a very small minority in the UK as someone who has never watched the X Factor, Britain's got Talent or Strictly Come Dancing.  I have noticed from the BBC website that sometimes there are references to these shows in the news, but I can't imagine it is that critical to anyone and that is as far as my consciousness of them goes.   I have difficulty in imagining myself sitting through one of them - particularly the dancing one.  And whilst I used to like talent shows, having been a musician for almost all of my life, the modern version is far too blinkered.  

The only people who get on them are wannabe singers, who sing other peoples' songs.  That format doesn't really hold any interest for me I have to say.  And the absolute pits for me was that thing a few years back - Stars in their Eyes - thankfully I was never compelled to sit through one of those.

That said, I do like a comedy show from time to time, particularly original or intelligent comedy. I guess that's classed as entertainment, but it does have some value over and above the "shows" and reality programmes which have become so rife.  It seems that TV these days is broadly a wall to wall mix of talent shows, cooking programmes, swearing, reality shows where nothing happens, soaps and celebrity life stories.  Throw in some cheap compilations (police camera stuff or funny home videos) some property and makeover shows and that's most of the week filled up.  Oh God and those daytime shows where they bring on couples in the middle of a divorce so that they can shout at each other for some voyeuristic interest.  

I guess the reason that all this stuff is in the schedules is that it is popular.  Television schedules are subjected to a huge amount of scrutiny and analysis, at any rate, because they provide a medium for advertising.  And advertising is, after all, what it's all about.  We are being entertained so that we can be slipped an advertising message once we are under the influence and relaxed.

The way I look at it is that I can have four hours more in my day than many other people, because I don't plonk myself down in front of the telly and allow myself to be entertained most nights of the week.

But that is clearly not the case for 97% of the people in the UK.

Sideways drift - into the book "In search of the miraculous", PD. Ouspensky's account of his time spent with George Gurdjieff during the early part of the 20th Century.  Gurdjieff believed and taught that the vast majority of people live their life in a state of waking sleep, they fulfil the role of machines.  The cycle of entertain - advertise - entertain - advertise is resonant of that waking sleep to me.  Go to work - earn money - come home - watch TV - get the message - go and buy the product - go to work - earn money etc...

So have my views on this changed over the years?  Of course - in the beginnning, I was a good audience just like most of the rest of the UK.  I watched TV until I had square eyes, as the saying went.  But I could never bring myself to watch the entertainment part even then - the big brassy Saturday night shows...  Thankfully, reality TV hadn't caught on then - television was still expensive to make and those appearing were generally well-known.  I remember when it didn't start until 4.30pm and went off the air at 11.30pm - I guess the idea was that it left people to get on with their lives during the day.  

When Channel 4 came along, and choice suddenly expanded into some more "alternative" programmes, I was all for it.  But the commercialisation of TV since during the 90s and 00s (OK, I know most of TV is commercial, it's aimed at selling us stuff), the celebritisation (if that's a word) of it, the growth of the wannabe and wannahave generation have switched me off entirely.   The idea that everyone who has ever had a bit-part in Eastenders is a "star" and the celebrity culture of people who become famous for being famous has left me feeling disenfranchised by television.  Bring back the Old Grey Whistle Test, BlackAdder, Monty Python and The World at War and I'll rejoin the fanclub.  Until then, I am resigned to the fact that what passes for entertanment these days is Not My Cup of Tea.