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Americans world's biggest TV addicts, watching four hours a day

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The Turkish wave is really impressive. You can find Turkish soaps also in some European tv channels. Turkey is definitely the most successful not Western pop culture exporter in the world.

-9 ( +1 / -10 )

Turkish soaps are becoming always more popular also in Italy.

Anyway, I rarely watch tv.

-8 ( +1 / -9 )

Turkish soaps are becoming always more popular also in Italy.

Perhaps this has more to do with the increasing amount of Turkish immigrants.

6 ( +7 / -1 )

What about Japanese?

0 ( +0 / -0 )

What about Japanese?

I don't know the stats, but I'm under the impression that Japanese tend to leave their TVs tuned in even when they're not watching, just to generate white noise, so they won't feel lonely.

8 ( +8 / -0 )

This explains a lot. For most people, 4 hours a day is pretty much all the free time they have. What a terrible waste of life. On top of that, they are essentially being programmed by so much exposure to so much rubbish.

When I was younger, I had to work nights, and that pretty much put me out of the TV loop. I never got back in. But it hurts me to hear people's moods and opinions change pretty much in line with what they are exposed to on TV.

6 ( +6 / -0 )

When we moved to Okinawa from Hokkaido 14 years ago, we left the TV behind. Haven't missed it. Without TV we get so much done. And we meet more people. Quality of life is much better without it.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

I only watch documentaries/lectures on Youtube that I am specifically interested in, or read books in my free time. Also listen to podcasts when I am working out. Life is too short to be spent idly in front of a TV watching hours of rubbish that you aren't really interested in.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

I’ve had US coworkers who would bore the rest of us to death with conversations about Game of Thrones/Breaking Bad/House of Cards etc.

Even more boring than watching them.

3 ( +7 / -4 )

Everton?

I never miss Everton games. That’s more through a sense of duty rather than watching for pleasure this season. It’s like visiting the in-laws or drinking with coworkers.

Other than that, 30 minutes of news is about all I can handle after spending most of the day in front of a PC screen.

3 ( +3 / -0 )

@zichi @jimizo

"If Everton were playing down the bottom of my garden, I'd draw the curtains." - Bill Shankly

I’ll certainly be watching 90 or so minutes of TV later tonight! Probably from behind the sofa.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Wow, are people envious about the success of Turkey as a tv programs exporter or what? I wonder the reason why my posts got all those thumbs down, when also the article listed Turkey like one of the biggest exporters in the world. And no, I doubt in Italy Turkish soaps are becoming so popular "thanks to the Turkish immigrants", they are mainstream, on air on main channels like Canale 5, there's no way only a bunch of Turkish immigrants are making all the share. If immigrants were so important for tv channels, well in Italian tv you would have tons of African, Chinese, or Romanian shows.

-1 ( +2 / -3 )

This article is in Italian, but Google translator is your friend (it translates in English really well).

http://www.adnkronos.com/intrattenimento/spettacolo/2017/04/11/mamma-turchi-fiction-della-mezzaluna-alla-conquista-dell-italia_25D868RJpAZLJWRtdbxCSK.html

It speaks about the Turkish wave in Italy. There's no way we have 2,000,000 of Turkish immigrants, in Italy, but that is the average number of people who watched "Cherry Season", with 18% of share, in one of the most important Italian tv channels, Canale 5.

If some people here have some kind of hate towards Turkey, is their problem, but at least you should deal with the true facts, without speaking about nonsense like "Turkish immigrants" that are making Turkish saops popular in Italy. This is simply absurd and hilarious.

0 ( +2 / -2 )

@ Alex80

If some people here have some kind of hate towards Turkey, is their problem, but at least you should deal with the true facts, without speaking about nonsense like "Turkish immigrants" that are making Turkish soaps popular in Italy. This is simply absurd and hilarious.

You're right and surprised about the 'thumb downs' you received on this Japanese forum It seems that 'Turkey' is alive among some posters. Bad experience at Incirlik I guess :)

Anyhow, the article was about TV addiction and Italians are everything but chubby so I guess that the TV addiction is limited..

1 ( +1 / -0 )

@Alex80

I don’t know what all the thumbs down were about.

I don’t watch much TV but perhaps I’d be more interested in something other than what I was brought up with - UK and US TV. I live in Japan now and Japanese TV is generally idiotic nonsense if my memory serves me right.

The last British TV show I watched was Downton Abbey - nostalgic, right-wing guff. The last US TV show I watched included, unsurprisingly, policemen with capped teeth and shed loads of firearms. I can’t even remember the name of it. They all seem to blend into one.

I don’t think l’d bother with soap operas from any country, but I’d probably give your Turkish soap opera a whirl over the familiar and repetitive stuff I was brought up with.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@Netgrump:  Turkey is the world's second biggest TV series exporter after the U.S., and yeah, it's impressive. I only said how Turkish shows are becoming very popular also in Italy, since the article didn't speak about how they are becoming always more successful also in Western Europe.

Here another article, directly in English:

The Turkish soap opera has seduced Italy: Luca Rochira, Fox Life:” perfect fiction for our audience”

http://www.miamarket.it/la-soap-turca-conquista-litalia-luca-rochira-fox-life-fiction-perfette-per-il-nostro-pubblico/

Turkish fictions are also high budget productions, and they are becoming a social phenomenon around the world, also in the West. It's probably something really unique to this extent, since Turkey isn't considered a "Western Country". North American fictions are losing ground in this particular competition worldwide, so I guess some North American people could be a bit uneasy with it. I don't know it.

Anyhow, the article was about TV addiction and Italians are everything but chubby so I guess that the TV addiction is limited..

As I said, I rarely watch tv. Sometimes, I watch a show called "L'eredità" during dinner. Anyway, at least according to this old article, Italians are "teledipendenti" (tv addicts), but the data are related to 2014.

https://www.key4biz.it/italiani-teledipendenti-piu-di-4-ore-al-giorno-davanti-alla-tv/129309/

They spoke about 4 hours 20 minutes a day spent in front of tv.

I guess most of Italians are slim thanks to our food. ^^"

0 ( +1 / -1 )

@Netgrump: sorry, in my earlier post I forgot to put your words under quote

Anyhow, the article was about TV addiction and Italians are everything but chubby so I guess that the TV addiction is limited..

What I wrote after that was my personal reply to you.

@Jimizo: personally, I've always been a fan of Japanese animation, so also today, if I have some free time, I prefer watching some interesting anime, rather than fictions, no matter which is their nationality.

But while in Italian tv most of anime are stuff for kids, especially old series from the 70s/80s, you can't find more mature series anymore, unlike what happened until some years ago. They are very rare.

So, I watch this kind of anime on the web. For example, lately I watched "After the rain", since I'm reading also the Italian version of the manga, and I found it beautiful.

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I don't watch TV, and none of my friends do either. It's probably a generational thing (I'm 25), but I think the old mode of TV is dying in many places and being taken over by subscription-based streaming-services like Netflix and HBO. When I occasionally watch TV at my parents' house, I don't miss it. It's the same kind of shows from my childhood and youth and I can find infinitely more interesting shows online. I must admit that the PC, however, does rob much of my time.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

@ Alex80

I guess most of Italians are slim thanks to our food. ^^"

Thx for the explanation and yes Italian [slow] food is definitely contributing to your shape and longevity :)

1 ( +1 / -0 )

I think that comps/tablets have replaced traditional TV viewing and such data (i.e. hours spent watching tv) is quickly becoming irrelevant/meaningless. Screen-time stats make more sense especially if you want to show how active/inactive ppl have become, what's our device/'screen' of choice, what type of program, for how long etc.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

 don't watch TV, and none of my friends do either. It's probably a generational thing (I'm 25), but I think the old mode of TV is dying in many places and being taken over by subscription-based streaming-services like Netflix and HBO.

True. But in the context of the article, on-line viewing is also considered "TV".

0 ( +0 / -0 )

 Turkey is the world's second biggest TV series exporter after the U.S., and yeah, it's impressive. I only said how Turkish shows are becoming very popular also in Italy, since the article didn't speak about how they are becoming always more successful also in Western Europe.

Alex80 - yes, it seems Turkey does have a big export industry, although I have never come across any, partly because I have no interest in soap operas, and also because the UK shows little overseas content.

The biggest exporters of TV programmes are:

1) US

2) UK

3) France

4) Australia

5) Turkey

Distributors of Turkish content have struggled in parts of the Middle East recently, but have increased their business in Latin America, a key factor in Turkey also making the top five.

Apparently the main market for Turkish shows is in the Baltic, unsurprisingly.

https://www.digitaltveurope.com/2016/04/15/france-and-turkey-join-biggest-programme-exporters/

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Anyway "tv programs" and "tv series" are two different things, of course. Tv programs include every kind of programs, for example format for reality shows, and stuff like that. Tv series, is only fictions, or we can call them drama, soap operas, telenovelas. And if we speak only about tv series, Turkey is the second exporter, after the U.S. This is why I believe it's really impressive, because it's especially with stuff of this kind that you can influence the audience spreading your own culture, not with generic format for tv shows, like "Big Brother", that are later adapted in every different Country.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I’ve had US coworkers who would bore the rest of us to death with conversations about Game of Thrones/Breaking Bad/House of Cards etc. 

Even more boring than watching them.

Nothing wrong with those shows, I’m a huge GoT and Breaking Bad Fan, funny, I never even heard about GoT until one of my British friends told me about it and by that time the show was in its second season. But there are other shows I like, you can have a balance and quality of life with both, some people like them, some don’t, we all have different tastes, some people love TV and all that comes with it, some don’t, doesn’t make a person inferior or superior, just depends on what is important in your life

-2 ( +0 / -2 )

That's nothing compare to my internet addiction. Cable is expensive and I don't want to pay for it so I have no channels on my TV. I never did like American shows. I watch Asian stuff on the net. Jdramas sometimes are good. This year I only care for one so far. They just don't make good dramas like they used to. But youtube always have something. Vlog vids seem to be the thing.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

JimizoApr. 10  01:30 pm JST I’ve had US coworkers who would bore the rest of us to death with conversations about Game of Thrones/Breaking Bad/House of Cards etc.

That's funny because I've had British, Irish, Canadian and Australian co-workers doing exactly the same with regards to all of those shows. In fact, I wouldn't have known about any of them if not for those co-workers.

If a person don't like television that's their business but the self-righteousness is what's really boring. As bassfunk4 says, we all have different tastes. I happen to enjoy television and find it to be a nice wind down at the end of the day. Oddly enough, I still manage to get in daily exercise and read at least four books a month.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

correction .... if a person doesn't like ...

0 ( +1 / -1 )

I tell people I don't have a TV just to sound cool.

Not surprised about the U.S. stat. Most Americans live in areas where your options for entertainment are the local bowling alley and the other local bowling alley. Oh yeah, there's that movie theater thing, and a few bars around. Regardless, step out of your house there, and you're risking life and limb from a car accident due to drunk driving, a psycho shooting up the facility, or worse.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

I have zero in watching ungodly amounts of TV. I exercise 4-6 days a week. Work a full time job. Read a book before bed (and when I travel), still have a very active social life. I do worse than watch 3-4 hours a day. I play games and/or surf the internet all at the same time. My point is if I have an active healthy life it's irrelevant how much tv I watch. I love and really enjoy tv. Sci-fi, cop shows, comedy, murder mystery. 4 hours of good characters and good stories vs 4 hours of mindless alpha wave variety shows or biased news should be the point of examination.

-1 ( +0 / -1 )

Watching TV through another device besides the real box does not count? Odd

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Jalepeno: Not surprised about the U.S. stat. Most Americans live in areas where your options for entertainment are the local bowling alley and the other local bowling alley.

I'm not sure if you're talking about the US in the 19th or 21st century but nearly 81% of Americans currently live in urban areas.

Oh yeah, there's that movie theater thing, and a few bars around.

Seriously, if that' all you're able to find in terms of entertainment, the problem might be more with you.

Regardless, step out of your house there, and you're risking life and limb from a car accident due to drunk driving...

Again, seriously? Hyperbole is not your friend.

...a psycho shooting up the facility, or worse.

Yep, the US definitely has a gun problem but you seem to be suggesting there's something worse than being involved in a shooting. I'm just curious as to what you think that is.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

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