TV Time: How much television do you really watch?

I don’t watch that much TV!

“I don’t watch that much TV,” says the average person, “just a few hours here and there.”  Unfortunately, the average person, according to the most recent figures from Nielsen Media Research Inc., watches TV for 4 hours and 35 minutes every day.  Furthermore, the average household has a TV playing for 8 hours 15 minutes every day. 

4.5 hours isn’t that much!

Let’s add that up. Perhaps 4 hours and 35 minutes does not seem like that much time. It probably does not feel like that much time, since the hours seem to fly by, when you are engrossed in a program. However, per week that adds up to just over 32 hours. That is 32 hours EVERY week. For adults, that looks like nearly a full time job. For children, that means their TV sets are educating them more than their schoolteachers are.

Per month, that adds up to 136 hours, or 5 days 16 hours. The average American is spending 5 2/3 solid days EVERY month watching TV.

Over the course of a year, the average American spends over 69 days watching TV. That is almost 10 weeks and over two solid months every year. Over a lifetime of 72 years, that adds up to over 13 years.  Not only is that a lot of time, it is an insane amount of time.

Could Nielsen be Wrong?

Other studies have reported that people watch between 2 and 2 ½ hours per day, which is significantly less than the 4½ hour Nielsen figure.  Could Nielsen be wrong?  This is doubtful for several reasons.  First, the networks depend on Nielsen’s ratings for marketing and advertising.  Nielsen would be out of business if their basic figures were inaccurate. Second, other studies, which meticulously document the amount of TV people watch, report similar figures.  For example, The Kaiser Family Foundation did a study last year documenting the media habits of 8-18 year-olds.  They found that kids watched an average of almost 4 hours TV per day. 

Either people are deliberately lying to researchers about the amount of TV they watch or they are grossly underestimating the time they are spending in front of the boob tube.  It is certainly possible that people are lying en masse.  However, it seems more likely that they unaware of the amounts they are actually watching.  I remember how easily the hours could slip by while watching TV.  This may be because the brain slips into a relaxed, hypnotic, alpha brainwave state when it is hooked into a TV. 

But I really do only watch a little TV!

The amount the abstract “average” person watches does not mean that everyone watches exactly 4 hours and 35 minutes of TV every single day.  Some people watch more.  Some people watch less.   Maybe you really do only watch TV for an hour or two per day.  

However, as you can see, it is not enough to estimate the amount.  In order to get an accurate view, you need to meticulously document the amount of time you watch during a week.  Get a journal and record every single show you watch for at least a week.  Add it up.  Then you will know if you are watching more than is healthy.  You will also be in a more empowered position to decide how much time you really want to spend in front of the TV.