My Television Log

Kathleen Bowman
November 2, 2008

Sundays are normally the one day of the week where I am able to sit in front of the television for an extended amount of time; normally during the week I'm caught up with school work or friends, but Sundays are much more lax. I watched George Lopez which is the one show I never miss. I also make it a point to watch House every Sunday on USA; they usually have a three or four hour block of House episodes. I did watch two episodes of House, though neither of them were recorded on my log because I viewed them on a television outside of my apartment. I don't normally watch Desperate Housewives, but my roommate watches it religiously, so I joined her for the second half of the show out of pure boredom. I also don't have a DVR or any other means of recording television so I don't have the pleasure of recording television and viewing it later.

I did download and watch a basketball game from the internet which originally aired Friday, October 31 on ESPN. I love the NBA, particularly the San Antonio Spurs, but I don't get to see a lot of their games. I use peer to peer file sharing on a regular basis to view games that aren't broadcast here in Corpus. I also watched a couple of hours of House on the television in the emergency room at the Bay Area Hospital. I rarely watch television outside of my apartment, but Sunday was a little different than most days. The only person I watched television with at my apartment was my roommate Sarah. At the hospital, I was watching the television with Sarah, my other roommates Erin and Katie, along with about 10 other people in the waiting room.

When I was filling out my log, I realized how often I switch the channels and how little actual television programs I watch. I literally spend 30 or more minutes just looking for something to watch. I'd catch about 5 minutes of a program that I'd find interesting, then I'd switch the channel and get completely caught up in another program. I also watch more movies than tv programs. I watched almost 4 and a half hours of movies on Sunday, and only 2 and a half hours of tv shows. I didn't watch as much tv as I had imagined. I feel like I usually waste away my Sundays watching tv, but looking back my log seems empty. I don't watch tv on a regular basis, so I have a very narrow interst in tv programs; I only watch if I'm familiar with a show.

I don't think this is the best way to keep track of television viewing, though I can't think of a better one. I think people switch to other programs during commercial breaks and they get enough of a grasp on a certain television program, but there aren't 5 minute increments and it's not really clear on how much of a show you have to watch to make it count.