Last time you watched Live TV?

[IVB]

There's been a discussion on my neighborhoods yahoogroup about Tivo/etc, got me to wondering when the last time folks watched live tv.

I'm excluding Sports & News, as those are only value-add if viewed live.

[GKusnick]

I voted "No idea", but I think the definition of "Live TV" could use some clarification. I often watch favorite programs while they're still recording, but I don't count that as "Live TV", since I get to them through the Recordings list rather than through the Program Guide. (I don't even have a "Live TV" item on my Main Menu.)

If by "Live TV" you mean channel surfing, I never did do much of that even before Tivo/Sage. I've always been the type to watch only those specific programs I like and then turn it off when the program's over. Sage hasn't changed that; it just allows me to watch them when I want, instead of having to be in front of the TV as they air.

[dgeezer]

I will occasionally watch something with my wife that's live. She still only sorta understands sagetv and we've had Sagetv, and before that GBpvr, for about 4 or 5 years now. I would say that she watches about 2 or 3 shows live a week, me none and my daughter 2 or 3.

Since I don't watch any sports I seldom see the need to watch anything live. I really feel that we watch significantly less TV, and almost no commercials, since we use SageTV to record all our favorites. Pretty much if nothing new has recorded we don't watch any TV that night. I think this is great. I wonder if most people end up watching less once the channel surfing, having the TV on in the background etc., habits are broken.

[jaminben]

We watch live TV on a daily basis, I guess old habbits die hard.

Cheers

Ben

[tmiranda]

My kids don't even know what live TV is. The only time live TV goes on in the house is when my father-in-law comes over because he refuses to use any type of DVR.

[Fluffdaddy]

EAGLES win yesterday

Football is the only thing I regularly watch live. Other then that I can not remember the last time I watched live tv.



*I did watch the election returns live

[valnar]

All the time. I only use Sage when I have to. The scaler in the HD200 isn't as nice as my TV, and when channel surfing or finding something to watch for the kids as background noise, why use Sage?

[matt91]

We never watch live TV, except for news, and rarely, sports.

in fact, 2 of the 3 TVs in the house don't even have a cable (coax) line - just Cat 6 with an extender.

[reggie14]

I agree with GKusnick that we really need more clarification on what "live TV" is.

I never watch TV directly hooked up to the cable line or STB. In fact, none of my TVs are hooked up to even let me do that.

I frequently watch favorites while they are recording. Usually I'll jump in about 5-15 minutes after it has started, so I often "catch-up" to live TV by the end of the show.

I'll sometimes go through the program guide and find something that's currently on to watch, mostly for background noise. Often these end up slightly time-shifted too, since I'll often pause or rewind the show for various reasons.

Originally Posted by valnar

All the time. I only use Sage when I have to. The scaler in the HD200 isn't as nice as my TV, and when channel surfing or finding something to watch for the kids as background noise, why use Sage?

This is completely off-topic, but why not set up the HD200 to do native resolution switching and let the TV do the scaling? Wouldn't that fix your problem with the HD200 scaler?

[IVB]

Hmmm, typing out this definition makes me realize how I may have been incorrect in my initital thinking. And I meant 'live TV' through Sage, not directly via STB to TV. Do any of us have that? (well, i guess valnar must).

There's two dimensions to this, I had originally only thought of #1:

1) Do you know what day/time TV shows are broadcast? If you jump in 5-15 mins into a show, then should it be considered Live TV?

2) Do you have the ability to skip (manually or comskip) commercials? If so, then it shouldn't be considered 'live TV' as you're not waiting on the actual broadcast.

So...typing that all out, I think #2 is a more important dimension than #1, so I guess in my new thinking, jumping in 5-15 mins after a show starts so you can skip commercials without waiting on broadcast is NOT live TV.

My kids have 12 different favorites, the wife has a ton, I have a few, so there's ALWAYS something they haven't yet watched. We also usually have ~25 netflix in the queue, although that's typically half for me (various sci fi shows, i'm watching BSG right now). And, I end up watching Hulu 50% of the time.

Hence, except for SciFriday which is a nicely branded thing to remember, I don't even know what days my shows are transferred into my machine. Eh, broadcast.

[reggie14]

I brought up a third issue, which is really a sort of hybrid. I'll start watching live TV, but in the process of watching it the show will become time-shifted because I'll pause or rewind the show. Is that considered live TV? On the one hand, I'm going something that I definitely couldn't do with a regular TV or STB. But on the other hand, I'm finding something currently on to watch, rather than watching something that I previously arranged to have recorded.

[IVB]

I think my personal definition is now 'are you waiting on the show to be broadcast or can you skip as far ahead as you'd want to'. Meaning, a 15 min offset on a 1 hour show isn't liveTV, as you wouldn't want to skip ahead to the end, but that gives you enough buffer to skip all the commercials and behave in a way of your choosing.

But that's just me - what do other folks consider live tv?

[paulbeers]

Other than sports, never. I even watch the 10:00 news timeshifted so I can skip thru stories I don't care about.

[reggie14]

Originally Posted by IVB

But that's just me - what do other folks consider live tv?

The term "live TV" comes up in a lot of discussions on these threads, and in all cases it's used as short-hand for something else. So, what it means is largely dependent on context, and you often have to sort of guess what the person is getting at based on why they're asking the question.

For a general-purpose definition, I don't think I'd make it so commercial-skipping-centric. That's certainly a nice feature that comes along with DVRs, but it's not the only one. Some people will really like the automated recording of DVRs. To others, commercial skipping will be the main reason to use DVRs. And to some, the ability to merely pause and rewind live TV will be the compelling feature.

Because of that, I also don't think you can come up with a definition along the lines of "non-live TV is using the DVR to make TV behave in a way of your choosing", since that will mean different things to different people, and in different circumstances.

So, I'd say you fall outside the "live TV" box whenever you do something that you can't do with a regular TV or cable/satellite box.

[GKusnick]

Originally Posted by IVB

But that's just me - what do other folks consider live tv?

To me the important distinction is not so much about time-shifting (although skipping through commericials is nice). It's about being limited to watching whatever happens to be on, versus being able to cherry-pick programs that are worth watching and stockpile them to watch when I please.

[MitchSchaft]

I watch LiveTV every day. Live being it's broadcasted now so I'm watching it now.

[sainswor99]

Definitions are funny; I interpreted "Live TV" as NOT Sage. I totally forgot that there's a LiveTV option in Sage; I have IR turned on and tuned, and have a stockpile of movies and shows to watch, so the only time I watch Live TV is when the kids come over and put down the Wii to watch the Disney channel.

Everything else, I Sage.

[nyplayer]

I watch live TV all the time (NO Sage). I watch Sage more on weekends to catch up or late at night.

[eric3a]

2001?
Never watch LiveTV, including News and Sports.
Eric

[Polypro]

Depends on the TV season. Right now I'm down to 2 recordings in my Recorded TV...so guide surfing is in full swing. During the new shows season, I never watch it.

P