Debbie:
In this age of DVRs, I still sometimes forget I can watch whatever in blazes I want to watch … just not live. It makes for some crazy juggling all week long, but after playing weekend catch-up, I’ve pretty much watched everything I want to see.
There are still certain shows that I just have to watch live, no matter what. Yes, there are shows I make the big sacrifice for: I watch the commercials. OK, I admit sometimes I’ll start watching them at 15 minutes past, so I can forward through the ads and still be caught up. Regardless, this season my must-watch-live list looks something like this: House, Glee, Modern Family, Cougar Town, Vampire Diaries, and Supernatural.
If I could stay up past 10:00 and not turn into a pumpkin, Castle, The Mentalist, and possibly Blue Bloods (jury’s still out) would make my list.
Not to say I don’t love the other shows that I watch, but I jive with live on this crop (and the schedule works in their favor too).
How about you?
Bob:
Oh god, this is going to make me look so pathetic … mostly because I just can’t stay up late, at all. Seriously, I don’t have any shows that I have to see live. There are a lot that I would love to, but they are just on too darned late. Most of my Mondays are spent anxiously wondering what happened on Mad Men while trying to avoid any reviews or spoilers. It’s one show that I really should just stay up for, but I know I would regret it the next day.
Lost was definitely a show that I couldn’t miss. There was so much water cooler talk with that show, it was not one that you could leave to the next day. I suppose The Event could turn into that, but as of now there just aren’t enough people watching.
The fact is, I watch very few shows live. If it’s on after 9:30 (and sometimes even 9:00), I’m recording it and watching it the next day. I think one of the only other shows that I would really look forward to if I missed it would be 30 Rock.
Debbie:
OK, so there may not be any shows that you have to watch live, and I get that. But which ones do you usually end up watching live? That might tell us something about your viewing habits right there.
And let me ask you this: do you think the Nielsen ratings are losing their power because of the DVR factor?
Bob:
What do I usually watch live? Community, 30 Rock, The Office, Modern Family, Cougar Town, and then some new shows, which I am still trying to decided whether or not I like: The Event and Undercovers.
I’m not one to rail against the Nielens. I know just enough about statistics and polling to understand that they are probably quite accurate, regardless of whether or not they favor my favorite shows. They do track some of the DVR numbers. They have a category they call live+7 or something like that which tracks the DVR views in the seven days following the broadcast. It certainly doesn’t catch all the views (or online numbers), but it helps, I guess. I just don’t understand why, with practically everyone having cable boxes now that we have done the digital switch over, why we can’t get actual numbers of what everyone is watching. I suppose it’s a privacy issue at the end of the day. Oh, well.
Debbie:
Big Brother’s last name is not Nielsen, for better or for worse….
How about you? What shows do you watch live, and does having a DVR change your viewing habits?
Clacked by Debbie McDuffee
on Oct 06, 2010 @ 15:00 EST5EDT
Up until last season I never lost an episode of LOST, and I mostly credit the water cooler talk afterward for this – same as Bob.
My only must-see live show now is SURVIVOR, due to the fact that I am on the Internet since the first hours of the day and wouldn’t want to be spoiled as to who was eliminated.
The second one is definitely THE VAMPIRE DIARIES – it’s such an addictive show and full of surprises it actually exceeded its status of guilty pleasure :)
Other than that I catch up usually in the next three days with CHUCK, SONS OF ANARCHY, THE BIG BANG THEORY and MAD MEN. The only new shows that got my attention this season are BOARDWALK EMPIRE (never had a doubt about this one) and RAISING HOPE (pleasant surprise).
So not a lot of overlap for me, no more than 2 shows per night and since I don’t have a Nielsen box, I don’t have to feel guilty for not watching Chuck live for example :)
What do you mean by “watch live”? Unless I’m watching with someone else, or texting or IMing about it to someone, I don’t watch anything “live”. Shows like “Lost” that I wanted to be sure not to be spoiled about, or be able to talk about the next day, or awards shows, I watch on the same night it airs. But if it starts at 9, I tune in around 9:20. For a 3-hour awards show, I start watching about 1/3 in. That lets me fast-forward through the ads, and still finish when the show does.
Short of interacting in live communication with someone else about a show, why would anyone with a DVR watch anything “live”?? It’s mind-boggling to me. What’s the point of your DVR, then?
I can’t think of a show that I actually watch live. I’m in the 15 minute camp with Debbie. I’d rather scroll through commercials, but even if I do watch something live, I’ll have to pause it at some point. We do watch SNL “live” for the most part, but even with that I’d prefer the 15 minute delay so I can whiz past a particular musical guest I’m not fond of. I’d say 95% of what I watch is much after the fact, especially when there are overlapping programs sometimes being recorded on DVRs in other rooms. Yeah, I watch way too much TV! I wish I did have a Nielsen box for all the show that I do watch and Tivo. Maybe more bubble shows would survive!
I will suffer through ‘live tv’ for one show – Chuck. Not because of the commercials – it is because I like to watch on my computer. I wake up early, get my coffee and watch my shows from the night before. If I have to buy it – I don’t watch it. With that being said – I always buy Supernatural so I can go back and watch them over and over.
I always watch Chuck live because my program guide is messed up for NBC and list 1/2 hour shows that I’ve never heard of instead. And because of that like 3 minutes is always missing in the middle from the split. Watching it live also leads me to watch The Event and let me form a better opinion on it. If it didn’t follow Chuck I wouldn’t of given it a chance past the pilot.
Everything else on TV is fair game. If I’m home I’ll watch it, if not I’ll record it. And even watching things on DVR I still forget to fast forward through commercials sometimes so I dont bother waiting 15 minutes then starting the show.
Cougar Town, True Blood, Dexter…I watch Supernatural two hours before and online with commercials from another city because it’s on so late here. I do a lot of the “let it go 20 minutes” to avoid the commercials scenarios. Three are just so many different ways to watch shows now. I love it.
We never, and I mean never, watch anything live (save for our local college football team). In fact, we’re often 3+ weeks behind on episodes. Nobody in my family besides me reads anything on the internet that’s television related and I love spoilers so getting the scoop on a couple of episodes I haven’t seen doesn’t bother me one bit. In fact, it actually excites me about a show.
I remember watching live TV…barely, and I swear half the time the damned phone would ring, people would have to go to the bathroom, someone is asking what a character said, flaming kittens are flying through the living room, etc. It was anything but entertaining. Now, we stop it, start it and rewind it as we please and that’s the way all television should be watched.
I have to agree with ScottH that anyone with a DVR watching something “live” is mind-boggling. Having complete control and the peace of mind that comes with the entire episode being in your possession is very reassuring and increases our enjoyment of television greatly. I look forward to the day networks “release” their episodes at the same time they’re broadcast and one can download the show in minutes and be watching with the same complete control the 21st century television viewer should demand.
I don’t see an argument here at all, with the exception of the “not available to download at time of broadcast” one, but give the nets a little more time and it’ll happen.
Live tv? Except for my roommate springing for the NFL Sunday Ticket package & DirecTV this season, we haven’t even paid for cable in 5+ years. We download everything off of newsgroups, each separately. With the $30/month I pay for that service, I bet it’s cheaper than paying for cable. We do watch some of the same things, so I think it’s funny that we’ll download the same file, but oh well.
Since it’s all ripped by people on the east coast it shows up around 7 AZ time. I like this a lot better than a DVR because the rips have the commercials already removed. Do I feel bad for doing this way? Hell no.
Question though, what time do shows start on the east coast? Here in AZ & also in MST (& possible PST) they start at 7 every night.
Prime time starts at 8 here on the east coast, which is why so many shows end up starting at 10, which is way past my bedtime.
In the Mountain time zone, if you get channels from the East, they start at 6:00. If your feed comes from the west coast, they start at 9:00.
hmm i guess el paso, tx does it differently than the rest of mst? they always started at 7, az does the same.
Except for a sporting event I am especially interested in, never watch live TV. I’m with ScottH and Tom, why pay the extra fees to have cable DVRs and TIVO DVRs, and then watch live? I’m mostly glad they exist to expand the range of the shows we watch. I know I watch too much TV. Glad that the Nielsens are taking some note of their use. Have yet to hear how they do it, but have never met a Nielsen family. I think Big Brother’s Nielsen is Leslie Moonves, as in Mrs. Julie Chen Moonves.