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The economic downturn has definitely caused Americans to rethink their free-spending ways but hasn’t completely curbed our appetite for the occasional big-ticket indulgence.
That’s especially true when it comes to one of our country’s favorite pastimes: watching television.
The percentage of homes with a large, flat-screen or high-definition television has risen steadily since over the past few years, according to data from the polling firm Nielsen.
Nearly 60 percent of American households had a high-definition television as of the second quarter of this year, up from around 37 percent at the beginning of 2008. That is despite a deep recession that officially lasted from 2007 to 2009 and left lingering economic pain.
Nearly half of all households had a flat-screen TV by mid-2010, up from around a quarter at the start of 2008.
At least 38 percent of homes have screens larger than 41 inches now, up from 24 percent in early 2008.
Maybe the economic doldrums have made us more impatient, too: 40 percent of households now have a DVR to record television shows, up from 27 percent at the start of 2008.
The data is based on Nielsen’s quarterly telephone survey of technology habits.
The fact that Americans have been willing to splurge on a TV - but little else – isn’t too surprising, considering how much time we spend in front of it.
A separate Nielsen survey found that Americans with access to a TV (almost all of them) spent an average of 158.5 hours a month watching the tube in the first three months of this year, or more than 5 hours a day. That’s up by about two hours a month from a year earlier.
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OK...Uh... I don't get it. Where is the part of the article describing why and how America is "Crumbling"??
It's just an article on Television purchasing.
Hey, I SURE am glad we don't see Sensationalism in headlines or news on this (supposed) NEWS website. That would make me suspect that MSNBC just is out to grab eyeballs, no matter what they have to do or print to get them.
Nah...they wouldn't stoop that low, eh wot? Hey! Is there an EDITOR in the house at MSNBC?! Someone to make sure dumb, unrelated headlines don't see the light of day?! Guess Not.
Redo the survey and factor in all the folks out of work who can't do much else and then add in the advent of HDTV which obsoleted all the older sets unless you got the 'box'.
Allison Linn had the right idea, but she expressed only part of it. Where part of what she had in mind to say would specify what it is that we are watching in high definition that is tantamount to the US crumbling or falling apart? Some people here reject that proposition secretly fearing that it is true. Others reject it because they fail to comprehend what they see with their eyes. But yes, our crumbling nation is on full display, just she said, "in glorious hi-def".
Next time you see an ad for a hamburger so massive that it bounces when it's dropped from a height of a foot or more, think of a nation of morbidly obesie people sitting and watching it fall and bounce "in glorious (mouthwatering) hi-def". Next time you see leggy supermodels shopping for clothes or applying expensive skin cremes for "that unblemished look", spare a minute to wonder what purposes are served by that dispay. Wonder too when you next find yourself engrossed by the spunk and determination of a bunch of morbidly obese Americans to shed hundreds of pounds of fat. Wonder how so many of you can sit on your fat backsides and watch mostly slim people dance tangos. Next time you see an invitation to "bliss out" in a desert spa, spare a thought for Allison Linn.
Assuming Ms Linn is female and a "business writer" to boot, she should be fully aware of the fact that women control and spend the larger part of American disposable income. More to that, that they are coveted and targeted by television advertisers who aim to persuade them of their inherent rights to luxury and extravagance. "You are worth it", they are told, often, and in no uncertain terms. Regrettably, they are not. Instead, they are the all too willing collective keystone of a nationwide, worldwide marketing ploy "in glorious hi-def". No good will come of it in the long run.
Ms. Linn should finish what she started to say. It is sorely in need of more forthright expression.
You mean to say people are watching the screen 5 hours a day .... Man no wonder they sending all the jobs out of this country, ant no one able to work !! They to damn lazy and FAT come on lets just sit on our duff and watch it all day .....
"That would make me suspect that MSNBC just is out to grab eyeballs,..."
It worked on you didn't it?
The headline was changed so it all makes sense now right? At least it's not as bad as the Evansville Courier & Press. Even their editors can't write a coherent article and the rest is so bad it's funny.
We had to sell our Samsung flat screen to help with food and gas money, such a shame but broke out the old tube tv and it suites us well until we are in a better position to buy an LED. Would rather have food and gas to get to work.
The height of anti American rhetoric , which I see all too often both on the comments here and now even in this "finely crafted" story is how we evil Americans swath ourselves in the luxury of those decadent flat screen TVs, while our mortgages go unpaid and or kids starve. Get over yourselves. If you hate prosperity, technology and what the current electronic age has to offer, please start by getting rid of your computers and your smart phones, and lead by example. Then, instead of spending $1500 on your TV, you can just go out every night, at a cost of, say $50. That 'll save you! ( till day 31) and 16D, I must agree with you wholeheartedly, MSNBC has no editor that I can see, it seems to be an open, liberal blog. Kind of like the 'vine, but with pictures and page layout.
Or you could not watch TV for 5 hours a day and spend that 5 hours on one hour of exercise, 2 hours of family time and 2 hours of reading.
I haven't watched TV for years and I do the above with my time. I am slim and healthy, in good communication with my family and know a lot more about more things than most of the people I talk to.
I am glad for you. However, if someone wants to watch TV and finds happiness in it, why not let him / her do it?
JC, those books will a. rot your brain, and b. cost ultimately more than your tv.
Common Man: If someone wants to watch TV 5 hours a day that's their right. I'm not advocating stopping people from watching TV, I'm just suggesting an alternative that might make their lives a bit richer.
Robin Steele: Yours is one of the most utterly stupid comments I have ever seen on Newsvine. You are living proof that watching too much TV turns one into a simple, brainwashed fool.
MSNBC ..just another left-winged entity owned by GE.. You would think with their lowww-ratings. 12% veiwership..That they would realize changes were needed..but just like their Missiah Odumba, they could care less about public opinion.................Vote Conservative in November...we can take our country back!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Take it back to what.........the last eight years of right wing lunacy ? Give me a break. It takes time to clean up a mess. Look at the stock market, it is climbing. Change is slow but it is getting better. Get us out of the war and back to working and spending the money in the U.S. instead of abroad.........
What an absolutely dumb and misleading title! How about this for a title:
"Watching the U.S. 'Misleading-Media' fall apart ... in glorious hi-def"?
Gordanfan24, take this country back from what, and from whom, and then do what?!!! You right wing, tea baggin', whack job, something for nothing types ought to try thinking for one second about what you're saying BEFORE you say it (that's assuming you're capable of thinking for yourself); and make sure you can back it up with one iota of fact.
Well let me see!!!!!!! I don't see any Dim whits running on health care or speaking of it, humm..The majority of people who vote Democratic do not have left-wing values. Only 20 percent of Americans even consider themselves liberal. But vast numbers of people with views that are not leftist have been effectively brainwashed (one cannot come up with a more accurate word) into fearing the right when the threats to their liberty, as well as to America's standing in the world, its exceptionalism and its economic future all emanate from the left, thus this is why virtually every liberal columnist at The New York Times has described political opposition to The left cannot win on arguments. It must demonize its opponents. From Stalin calling Trotsky a Fascist to Frank Rich labeling the tea parties as mimicking the Nazis' Kristallnacht, this has been the favored leftist method of achieving power. And that is why it remains so hard for most Democrats to vote what they believe and vote Republican -- a lifetime of demonization has worked.
Ines and Doug: How about we take it back to the last time we had a Dem Prez and Repub Congress? Some of the best years of my life, economy-wise.
Government did nothing, for the most part, and got out of the way. Gridlock is a wonderful thing.
MSNBC is simply not trustworthy when it come to the news. What they are good at is opinion news that disregard the facts.
And you trust whom for your news coverage, the right-wing propoganda machine FOX Noise? NBC presents much more factually based reporting than the pseudo-journalist news models at FOX, which is just an arm of the Grand Obstructionist Party.
This is a dumb article! Was there nothing else to write about? Oh God....I can't believe I'm responding to this. I need to find a job. I have too much time on my hands. Oh..I don't have High-Def. Couldn't pay the bill. So I'm also watching it in standard def.
I want the 45 seconds back that it took me to read this non-story.
I'm slowly getting rid of my TV's. Cancelled cable - what a waste! Paying $70 a month for the "privilege" of still having to watch commercials?? No thanks! Done and done - bye, bye.
If I want to watch a TV show, I'll order the DVD from the library or Netflix and watch it at my leisure, uninterrupted by commercials. The news? On the internet. New shows? One week later, on the internet.
Who needs TV? Most of it is crap anyway, with channels taking up airtime just to keep more butts in front of it for... advertising! And what does that make Americans? Fat and stupid. How many smart/intelligent folks spend vast amounts of time parked in front of a TV all day watching crappy programming? I'd venture almost none.
Get out and do something, and sell the flat screen TV. It's just a waste of time and money, and you'll probably be healthier and smarter if you do. I sure am. And I'm saving over $800 a year just by not paying for cable anymore, so I'm richer too.
There are a lot of things that we do not need, and yes, T.V. is one of them. But I still thinks it's a bargain, considering the sophisticated technology. I do not watch any sitcoms or spoonfed entertainment, but that's MY choice. Instead, after a long day at work, my wife and I will turn on our HD T.V. and DVR. We'll then relax and enjoy watching TLC, Discovery, The History Channels, National Geographic, The Science Channel. We love HD with all its vibrant colors clarity and 5.1 surround. Thanks to a DVR, we quickly skip over all commercials.
It is YOUR choice to not watch and you are missing out.
JM, that's a fascinating conclusion, "It's YOUR choice to not watch and you are missing out." Uhh... missing out on WHAT, exactly? Most worthwhile programs on the channels you listed can be found online or ordered through the library AS I ALREADY SAID. Anything that's not available that way isn't worth watching. Please explain to me how I'm "missing out" on anything, while I'm taking a class, playing a musical instrument, learning the night sky and studying astronomy, getting involved with a local theater production, etc. - all of which don't require a TV? I don't quite follow your logic.
And instead of sitting in my living room, I go out camping with my wife and kids and see a lot of nature firsthand, instead of seeing it in those artificially created 'vibrant colors'. Sure, the DVD's of "Planet Earth" show me things in places I'll never go. But you mentioned surround sound? It's pretty good when you're out in a forest and can hear all the sounds of nature right there. The colors are nice, too - they even change with the seasons!! Try it sometime - you'll see what I mean. Or do you have "touch screen" capability with that HD stuff, where you can feel the texture of the bark, stone, or flower? Pick up a turtle in a pool of water? No? Didn't think so.
What exactly am I "missing out" on by sitting on my butt in front of the boob tube again?
Spot on Jose! I feel exactly the same way myself. See my post #3.1 above.
Does it really cost $70 per month for cable? Wow! You can't rent or buy a LOT of DVDs for $70 per month!
As you said the educational shows are available from libraries and rental stores. With the internet you can find out what the quality TV shows are and watch specific ones you like. I picked up the first season of the TV show "House" at a charity store the other day for $7 in mint condition. I have watched a couple of episodes but it will likely take me over a month to watch them all, so I've saved at least $67 right there.
I don't know how people can sit and watch 5 hours of TV a week. That would seriously cut into my time and I can't imagine what I would get out of it that would be better than buying or renting DVDs, exercising, studying (I'm working on learning Japanese at home) and hanging with the family.
"Most worthwhile programs on the channels you listed can be found online or ordered through the library AS I ALREADY SAID. Anything that's not available that way isn't worth watching." "Sell the flat screen TV, you'll probably be smarter if you do. I sure am."
Hear that everybody? Throw away your flat panel widescreen! It made this guy SMART! He told us so!
Thanks for setting us all straight, Mein Fuhrer. If everyone was as intolerant as you it would be a perfect world for you to live in.
Mr. Hussein,
You do what you like and I will do what I like. Television is not evil. If you can't afford it, fine. If you prefer to use the library, fine. If you like nature walks, fine. I can do all those things and not gripe about it.
Lots of anger here over a silly article. Actually you can get a nice 42 inch high def tv for about 600.00. It can save money actually. Go to a concert and you'll spend 200.00 at least. A basketball game? More than that for sure...Baseball, the same. Even college football is expensive in person. There are tons of sports on TV including your local teams. You go 3 times to a sporting event or concert, and it cost as much or more than the TV. The TV will last for years.
I think there is a lot of good programming on TV and if you record it, you can whiz through the commercials. When not watching TV, go to the beach with your kids, or the park. There's lots to do that is inexpensive.
I thought the idea of going to a sporting event was to go to a sporting event. By the way, my DVR is alergic to TBN.
I don't go to professional sporting events because watching a bunch of overpaid crybabies from seats that are 5 stories high and 600 feet away don't appeal to me. I'd rather go to a minor league baseball game where the players appreciate the crowd, the staff is entertaining, the seats are superb and the atmosphere is more laid back and fun. And I don't spend more than about $75 for my whole family of four to go.
There's really NOT a lot of good programming on TV. There are SOME good channels with SOME useful stuff, showing some things we'd never see otherwise. But the vast majority of it is designed for one thing: To shove advertising in your face - the exception being the paid channels like HBO, Showtime, etc., where you are paying them to NOT show you commercials. The other channels just need eyeballs and advertisers.
Sure, the screens look nice. Sure, the sound is pretty with 5.1 surround. But what are you DOING with your life if you're parked on a couch in front of a TV for more than 4-6 hours a week (enough to see the news, weather, and a couple hours of decent programming)? How much time do you WASTE in front of a TV getting literally nothing accomplished?
Yea, my wife had to have the latest and greatest 52" HDTV. We get by alright, but I told her we didn't need it, ended up purchasing it anyway in cash at least. $1500 bucks I know we'll wish we'd saved for a rainy day.
The vast majority of Americans will not wake up to financial reality until it's too late.
Wow, your wife must have a really wonderful...whip.
("Phil MacKrackin" is the best you could come up with? Remember: The first street you lived on and the name of your first pet!)
Hmmmm, how do I know you? :)
Yes, anyone without a job or worried about losing their job should cut back. But this same message is being sent to people who do have jobs and are in no danger of losing their homes. It's like the trendy thing to do.Then we read about consumer spending being down resulting in unemployment going up. By the way, I buy store brands as much as possible, rarely shop at fancy department stores and I have a child who was laid off in a town with a 15% unemployment rate.
The thing they fail to mention is that tv's are getting more innovative, intuitive and better all the time. Just like DVR's are as well. People will part with money if its affordable and cutting edge. TV's are getting cheaper and cheaper and yet at the same time better and better.
People will spend money on things that are reasonable for what they are getting. I think that's why tv's are doing well.
turn it off and get off your lazy butts and get out and do something, create something, grow something, cook something healthy, converse with friends, play games, do something other than being absorbed into that false matrix
Amen...Read a book, learn a language, help a cause, exercise/masterbate your mind, get a hobby. How many orientals, Moslem's, East Indian's etc. adults or their children spend 5 hours a day in front of a TV. They utilize their time. Must be a boring life to waste your's watching crap on TV. How funny would a prime time TV comedy be if the laughter was not dubbed in for you. That's what the article meant, by crumbing america, a waste time and effort, like a sink hole in your future. Too many silver spoons out there. Get a life, your only given one, value and don't waste it in front of the TV.
Exactly Scott and Bob! Well said, I agree 100%.
Hear! Hear!
I got fed up with tv about 30 years ago. 1/3 advertizing, irrevelent programs, and it's free. Cable isn't much better, Direct TV at least allows a wider scope of possibilities, Starz, Encore, etc. You get what you pay for, but it's all surealistic anyway. But at least a lot of shows are fact based and direct you to research the truth. And why is MSNBC being singled out for this harrassment? It's universal. I watch a $90 tv, (disposable for sure), but quite adequate. Personally Hi def is lame in my opinion. Even surfing the web you have a 50/50 chance of hacker broadcasts instead of the real thing. Use your common sense, we all have it. Programs are just that,...programmed. Do not become one of the programmed. If you wish to watch 10 hours of televised so be it. But do your homework.
We are not sheep as much as lazy. Lets forget who the broadcaster is, and seek the facts. Do not sit and absorb what is meticulously set on our plate no matter what the technology. Wake up people, the programers aren't even the programers. You think you are safe from this technological plummaging?, Mcaffee, Malwarebytes? FC3?,...think again. Or at least "Think"!! Support your sponsors when they want to close a site. This isn't the Nintendo generation.
Consumer spending will NOT help our economy recover because it has been destroyed. When you buy that shiny, new, expensive foreign-made TV or other electronic device, you are part of the problem. That money leaves America, never to come back. After reading the usual Teabagger/Dittohead/Freeper twaddle posted after EVERY article on MSNBC (often, seemingly without having even read it, let alone grasping the point), it seems there is no solution for our lost prosperity. We will continue to eat the bitter fruit of Reaganomics, as our wages decline, our infrastructure continues to crumble/be bought up by foreigners, and our fears of armed, angry mobs of frothing morons grow with each passing day.
Take it back to what.........the last eight years of right wing lunacy ? Give me a break. It takes time to clean up a mess. Look at the stock market it is climbing. Change is slow but it is getting better. Get us out of the war and back to working and spending the money in the U.S. instead of abroad.........
Let's see in 1990 I spent $900 on a 27" TV (with multiple inputs). These days that can even get you a 50" set if you shop around a bit. In 2000 I bought my next set a 53" HD RPTV for $3800. Still runs great today after the power supply was resoldered (the factory did a poor job on those). Movies look like movies on an RPTV. By the time that model was being blown out by retailers a couple years later it went for as low as $1600.
I don't see much of today's HD sets breaking the bank and agree the real expense is those cable bills. I myself am watching more streaming from Netflix and other services these days than cable. I think a lot people put those cable bills on autopay and never look and them nor think about how little they're really getting for paying so much.
What is the point of this article? To see anything live the average family of 4 simply can not afford it. A football game watching in the nose bleed seats $400, A trip to Daytona for the Nascar race, $1000, a 100 " projection system $1400 (Priceless! because, we are not polluting, we can get years of football games and races for the $1400, we can stay at home and not put up with snotty hotel help, sardine can air flights in cattle car seats, other peoples screaming brats, and the list goes on!
PRICELESS!!!!
Times are hard. American people stand up, from the couch, and demand free TV Snacks.
Thank you mister TV salesman guy, but my 27 inch is tied to two game systems and DVD player, and Im afraid a larger picture will scare my children. You can keep your $200.00 fat cat basket ball game ticket and $150.00 night at the restaruant.
Just glanced through this silly little piece, but far worse are all the comments. Apparently none of those poor souls knows how to READ! Watching TV is for imbeciles and couch potatos. Nothing TV ever puts out can compare to a good book which engages your imagination and makes you create the imagery that accompanies the story. This is why my wife and I never let our children watch any program but Wild Kingdom on Sunday night; all other nights were for reading children's stories and children's poetry. They all turned out to be intelligent readers and very good writers.
From Ines-1159800:
Take it back to what.........the last eight years of right wing lunacy ?
Spending the country into further debt is left-wing lunacy. If your family is behind on bills and is in debt, do you spend further to fix your problem? No, you don't. You save what money you can to spend on paying off the debt, not increase your debt. So why is the left's answer to spend more (and increase debt) to help the country right now? THAT is lunacy. So is touting the benefits of the new healthcare reform that only increases premiums (they didn't mention that part did they?) rather than reducing them as advertised.
Brandon, you obviously get your so-called "facts" from FOX Noise. Lunacy is believing for 1 second that we can go back to the days of Bush/Cheney and resolve this country's econmic woes. Health care reform is a necessary part of our economic recovery, you moron.
Americans hope that they can wait out the recession and get their old jobs back with the same pay or greater even. In the meantime they watch TV with a surefire sense of "entitlement".
All the while, Chinese and Indian ppl (and everyone else) trek thousands of miles to train and obtain new skills and jobs for 21st century global economy. No, they don't buy large screen TV''s and just sit there like a zombie!
THAT is America Crumbling for you!
I have a 60" Pioneer Plasma Elite and a Killer surround sound, a dozen speakers including a whofer that makes my roofs shingles quiver, and $200 a month cable bill (that IS rediculose I'll agree) in my man cave (loft) that I built to #1 watch College FOOTBALL (I'll stqart with College Gameday at 10AM and finish a WHOLE day Saturdays with some WAC game at 2AM and I DON'T EVEN WANT TO HEAR YOUR OPPINION about it.
I'm a Iron self employed Iron Worker and most of you could/would not follow me on my average day OUT OF THE HOUSE and I leave kids half my age in the dust regularly... BUT ... my POINT is... IF YOU are mentioning buying FOOD and paying the Mortgage in the same breath as your TV or Cable bill... your an IDIOT!
Get your priorities straight America... I drove junks for years, PAID MYSELF 1st, SWEAT EQUITY in MY HOME that I designed and BUILT MYSELF, went NO WHERE, lived frugally and did little (unless it was FREE) untill I created such EQUITY in my life then could aford to OWN my pleasures! There is Americas PROPLEM! YOU DON'T OWN ANYTHING... you have no EQUITY or INVESTMENT! 60% of Americans OWE MORE than they OWN... IDIOTS!
Big deal. Don’t throw this iron worker sh-it at me. I served in the merchant marine in ww2 at the age of 17, in the south pacific as a “Wiper” engine room janitor, wiping up oil, grease, and painting in a temperatures engine room averaging 115 degree F. This was not one day, every day, months buddy. Wish you were there. When the guns fire you ducked and grab your balls. Continued in life served in the early Korean war1951 as a combat medic and entered college at the age of 26 and eventually received a BS degree in mechanical engineering Ya, I’m one of the guys you read the construction plans from to guide you to install the iron. Please don’t throw this iron worker Sh..t. at me. I’ve stood strike duty on the waterfront, Seafarers International Union, New York, New Orleans in the 60’s and 70’s., where your head can get busted. Why don’t you pay attention, they do not want to take your priceless TV entitlement but can you contribute something to America other I’m a iron worker, big deal. Get off your ass .America owes you nothing Get a life
"Who needs TV? Most of it is crap anyway, with channels taking up airtime just to keep more butts in front of it for... advertising! And what does that make Americans? Fat and stupid. How many smart/intelligent folks spend vast amounts of time parked in front of a TV all day watching crappy programming? I'd venture almost none."
I am smart/intelligent and I spend a lot of time parked in front of a TV because I am not able to get out and walk. Did that ever occur to you? And of course you think most of it is "crap" because you're not watching it. (I think someone wrote an apropos fable about a fox and some grapes, didn't he? ) Get a DVR. The only commercials I watch are the ones that I like. Many commercials are better than the programs they support. Anyway, what with reading, the computer and TV, my day is full. And replying to sour people like you.
I believe this website does not have news article editors, only sensationalistic-thinking kids from some college co-op work program posting these misleading titles to just another banal "news" article.
Worker-drones for this "news" website -- quit misleading the reading public. If you don't have any real news to post, don't create junk. Go work in Hollyweird instead. You can create your own work lying to your loyal viewers, and the stupids will pay your company for the privilege of watching/listening/reading/drooling on your creation.
Yes, the U.S. economy is falling apart, but this article has NOTHING to do with the title. Did the journalism teachers teach this technique to you kids in college?!?