By Gail Marsh
Yes, you read that correctly. I do not want to continue paying the $9 a month to access our Dish TV satellite service while traveling in our RV. Cost is not the reason I want to cancel. I believe the $9 fee is quite reasonable. It’s certainly not because of poor service. Service has been great! No matter where we’ve traveled, we’ve always been able to access a satellite that delivers all the programming I could ever want. Everyone from the company’s “change service” reps to the “technology support team” has been superb.
So why cancel Dish TV?
I want to dump our Dish RV service for many reasons. First, I am exhausted by the daily reports of violence. I know it’s not the networks’ fault. They are simply reporting the news. The problem is that the news is always the same. Names and locations might change but violence remains constant. It doesn’t matter much where we travel in our RV. From north to south and east to west, the local and national news remains the same. Day after day, we see and hear all about it: murder, unprovoked and brutal attacks on strangers, drive-by shootings, domestic violence, carjackings, hostage situations, looting, and more! Frankly, I’m sick about it and exhausted from hearing it.
Getting my husband to agree? Not so simple.
My husband’s not as ready as I am to ditch the Dish TV. “Just don’t watch the news or the news channels,” he advises. Right. But if he’s watching, I’m watching by default because we’re in an RV. There’s not any space for me to “escape” to, especially as the weather turns colder.
The political ads
The news is bad, but the political ads? Well, sometimes they seem even worse. And the ads will only increase in number and frequency as we get closer to the elections. I don’t think I’d mind so much if the politicians did something except shovel mud at their opponents. I’d like to hear some fresh policy ideas or some new thoughts about ways to battle, say, violence, for instance.
Programming
The comedies aren’t funny. The dramas are predictable. And instead of coming up with anything new and different, successful series have beget hollow clones of themselves—albeit in different locations or emphasis. Most programming is, in my view, a waste of time.
It used to be that new shows were released in the fall. The hype for new programming played on air for weeks prior to the “premiers.” And most times, the hype was well-deserved. Now it seems that television writers have become lazy, and viewers simply accept whatever we’re given.
An RV “No TV Zone”
As I think about it, I’ve been craving an RV “No TV Zone” for a while now. When I envision time away from home in our RV, watching television doesn’t enter the picture. I’d much rather listen to crickets and the crackling campfire than hear political ads. I prefer seeing a perfect sunrise or sunset to watching the news. And a conversation with another RVer wins over lame programming any day.
How about you? When RVing, do you watch TV? If so, do you watch regular programming (over the antennae, cable, or satellite), or do you subscribe to streaming services? Let us know in the comments below. (And wish me luck in establishing an RV “No TV Zone.”)
Editor’s note: If your comments turn political, they will be deleted.
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First off you have to remember the news motto “If it bleeds it leads”. That being said I’m in love with my DVR. If a stupid ad comes on I press a button and fast forward 30 seconds. Because of this I never watch “live” TV anymore, I now watch on MY schedule. As for what your husband watches may I suggest noise cancelling headphones.
We carry a small TV that we can pull out of a cabinet and plug in if we need to watch for any reason. But we rarely get it out. At home, we watch movies or PBS. If I need news, I check my iPad. We do not go camping to watch TV!
My Allegro Bus came with three TVs — two inside, one outside — a satellite dish, and a pretty slick video distribution system (for 2008) that connected everything to a surround sound DVD player hidden in a cabinet.
Today, the large TV in the cockpit has been replaced by a bookshelf, the TV in the bedroom has been put on a hinge and “hidden” up near the ceiling (to make room for more cabinets), and the outside entertainment center is a tool bay. The satellite dish has been gone for 8 (?) years. And the power-sucking video distribution system has been unplugged to extend our boondocking time. When we want it, “TV” is provided by Amazon or Netflix and an always-on hotspot.
I think the last time DW and I sat down and watched a program together was sometime in 2021 — and that was for a marathon of 1960s reruns. We just don’t miss it.
Pink Floyd had it right….
Don’t like TV?…read a book instead. Hubby likes TV?…take a walk on a trail. Plenty of solutions to your ‘dilemma’ but if you’re not willing to use them, don’t complain.
I think your article might want to include a query as to why many RV models come with 3 TVs! One outside, two inside; it’s ridiculous. Most people I know don’t have that many TVs in a 2000sqft house! If our TV is on (which is rarely, we have no TV services so it just depends on our location as to what channels are available) my partner watches in the bedroom so I can be out in the living room with the door closed between us.
To some extent your own post answers the question you ask. Multiple TVs allows individuals to watch without disturbing others. Or, one can watch while the other can choose not to watch.
Nice piece. As for dumping the dish we did that a year ago. Note I said dumping the dish not the TV. My automatic Winegard and Dish and Direct TV’s have set idle for going on 2 years in the AV cupboard. As I experimented with streaming and OTA local the SatTV became dust covered. We now use our motorhomes smart TV connected to my cell phone on an unlimited data plan. When in a park that has good high speed data we connect to that. We now enjoy hundreds of free channels plus a couple of inexpensive pay services (Hulu, Fox Nation) and use our OTA antenna for local when available. Winters on the road have the same service as our summers at the bricks and sticks. Next I will experiment with signal boosters to improve the service. In the past year there were only a couple of times that we could not get sufficient signal to stream….. we say don’t throw the TV with the Dish bath water… pun intended.
Shutting yourself out of, especially, local news is not a good recipe, IMO. It’s just pretending that by ignoring what is happening in our world (fact or fiction) doesn’t really exist. You might just find that you put yourself into a bad situation.
I mumble and mutter at the TV, often, because I don’t agree with what is being claimed. But I do like to know what’s going on around me. I just rather choose to interpret what I hear and what it really means. It’s the opinions masquerading as news that are dangerous.
I agree with this.
I might not like all I’m hearing on the news, but feel it’s important to stay informed.
As far as TV shows, we tend to watch the “oldies” on ME TV or the Inspiration channel. Also history programs and renovation of historic buildings, etc. There is still some really good programming but you have to look for it. The Smithsonian Channel and Magnolia Networks are full of great programs!
We normally don’t watch TV on the road and enjoy the peace and quiet. If the weather looks iffy, I will try and get the local over the air station to see what is going on, but that is rare. At home we do have Dish Network and I would dump them if the wife would agree, but she loves her cooking channel and food network channels. I would be happy with the local news over the air only for the weather, not interested in sports or entertainment and we seldom get the violence here locally and I can tolerate the national reporting as it makes me appreciate living where I do.
Good point. Broadcast TV can be extremely helpful in tornado alley or wherever weather is a concern. You can also get some interesting choices on local public TV from time to time. Cable and satellite just add a lot of channels of junk, with a few movies. The DVD player works fine for an occasional movie night.
You will never get a warning call from a campground about imminent tornados, it’s up to you to sign up for alerts on your phone and check the local news.
Have never watched a TV when camping. Actually if I did I wouldn’t consider myself camping.
I’m with you on the no TV RV zone. The wife and kids not so much, but I’m not adding additional units in bedroom or bunkhouse. I haven’t watched a news program for well over 15 years, for the reasons you state, but more so for the totally unbalanced and preachy “reporting”. No objectivity, just pushing their own agenda and narrative. Makes me sick.
We don’t have any tvs in our camper nor do we wish to have one. When we camp, it is to remove ourselves from the stresses of everyday life. Instead, if we desire some entertainment
on a rainy evening, we will watch downloaded movies or shows on our laptop. Or read a book.
Our son says that he never wants us to get a tv at our camp because if we did, he’d never get his daughter out of the camper. Without it, she sits by the fire with us. Everyone has personal preferences and ours is to disconnect.
We had Dish also. My husband was so addicted to tv he has spent 2-3 hours moving the dish until he got all 3 satellites. Thank goodness he didn’t watch the news channels.
We call ourselves “Reverse Snowbirds” ! Our permanent residence is in AZ. We travel North in the summertime! After watching our favorite shows during the winter, which are becoming fewer and fewer, and being disgusted with the news and violence in this country, we choose not to watch the news all summer. It’s pretty simple to do also! We enjoy reading and listening to music in the evenings.
P.S. In other words…We watch no tv in the summer! We’re camping for goodness sakes! Enjoy ing the outdoors!!!
Shortly after my wife passed away, I cancelled the Direct TV. Nearly 3 yrs ago now, and I don’t miss it at all. I do have an outdoor TV antenna, but that is mostly to watch some occasional sports. I check the news daily on my laptop and mostly just read the headlines, seldom the stories. I do have Netflix, and usually watch a movie over dinner.
“If it bleeds, it leads” has always been true in the media, be it broadcast or print.
We have a TV onboard and rarely use it. We seldom use the one in our house except to watch British shows on Britbox. We never watch local or national network news, we can get all that online if we want to be depressed.
That’s not to say we are uninformed; we are well aware of what happens in the world.
I grew up in a household where as a child my TV viewing was restricted to 1 hour on weekdays and two hours on weekends. While by today’s standards this may sound overly strict, it had the effect of more making me discriminating in what I choose to watch.
I enjoy the peace and quiet in our lives from staying away from most media.
My parents’ rules were no TV if there was school scheduled the next day. That left Friday and Saturday evenings. Usually then we were restricted to what they wanted to watch.
I recently dumped DTV because I got Starlink, and much prefer what’s on youtube. With DTV I rarely watched anything live, I recorded it to zip thru the commercials. I was spending way too much time trying to aim the dish because, for reasons nobody can explain, the receiver was not responding to the signal quickly, like it used to. I watch a lot of TV so it’s worth it to me. I don’t go ‘camping’, I just live in a different dwelling half the year.
I quit Dish at home for the same reasons. Now I pay around $100 per year for family friendly TV and am much less stressed. I do watch TV in the RV though. Can’t miss football.
This may be hard to believe but we use our Dish sub mainly for music. We have music on anytime we’re indoors. And after 20 years of fighting with the dish on a tripod, I opted for the Dish Playmaker. No more aiming problems. We have other music sources as well but we like our faves on Dish. We do the same at home.
We have the Hopper at home, and a Wally (with DVR drive) in our RV. We also have a Roku and Fire Stick (with the Dish Anywhere app). Since we can watch live TV, especially NASCAR races or hockey games, that DVR drive comes in handy – it lets us pause about 10 minutes and hop over all the commercials.
Yes, things are ‘bad’. Well, not bad, they are the same as they have ever been. There are wars, there is crime, there are wildfires, there is social and political strife – these things always have and always will be happening. The more people there are on this rock, the more there will be conflicts between them. The more we are connected, with satellites, live TV, internet, blogs/vlogs, and several News Networks, the more ‘bad news’ will be around us.
So, I’m not going to cancel my Dish. Some things are worth fighting for, but some things aren’t worth fighting over. I’ll just concentrate on what makes me happy, and try to keep the rest to a minimum.
Dumping sat tv next week. Bill went from $67 to $109. Pretty high for tv. With digital over the air, we get 40+ channels. Semi-free.
Admit that we will miss HGTV, but wait, there’s streaming.
It’s the commercials that drive me insane (how many new drugs can there be?)…thank goodness for the mute button. And trying to chase around something somewhere in the Southern sky you cannot see, while lugging a miniature R2D2 around your campsite is downright embarrassing. Then waiting for a signal (supposedly to take ‘no more than 5 minutes’ but more like 20) that can’t be found because I’m being accused of setting the thing up where it’s obstructed by trees. Then calling up Dish to have my wally programmed to local channels (another 20 minutes) and being asked questions that make me feel like I’m a third grader, or worse being told my cables have bad connections because “she knows, she’s been doing this a looong time”. UGH, forget it! I’ll just read my Kindle.
You’re mad because trained, skilled agents who troubleshoot portable dishes 40-50 times a day, 11 hours a day for *decades* know more than someone who uses a dish recreationally? Let’s think about that.
I never found anyone at Directv whom I’d call anything close to a skilled agent. They’re all salespeople.
We have no room for a TV and we will keep it that way. At home he watches his downstairs and I watch my smaller tv upstairs. Camping we have fires and good books. Love the getting away from it all, almost anyway.
Gail, everything you have written my wife and I agree with. We unsubscribed to the TV the day after the 2020 November Pres election. Tired of the lies and propaganda. We catch all we won’t about what’s happening on our phones and laptops. Maybe we are old fashioned, but we prefer civil and moral TV and did not find it so. We can stream any movie we want online on our TV and catch weather and sports as well. We are more informed on what is happening in our local, State and Nation than many who still stare at the TV. Haven’t missed it one bit. Glad we did it and will continue to keep it off.
Which lies and propaganda are you talking about?
Please don’t try and get some crap started. He has his opinion and you have yours. Calm down already.
We ditched cable TV when we went full time in the Spring of 2015. Netflix sufficed for years but that became expensive for what we like to watch.
Prime works well for us – free product delivery and decent movies and documentaries.
YouTube has lots of documentaries and channels that are of interest to us.
I don’t understand why people continue to pay big $$$ for cable TV where advertisements are interrupted by the program you are trying to watch.
Just my 2 cents.
Love my Winegard Trav’ler & DISHnet Hopper3
We don’t watch many commercials because we DVR most programming
We’re retired, so our RV is our vacation home on wheels with 3 TV’s.
We love watching Baseball, Football & Golf, in addition to news and movies.
The OP’s discussion is abt unplugging from society.
I choose to enjoy a life that’s plugged into the world.
Although my husband and I are part of the TV generation, we watch practically no prime time tv shows, even at home. We watch a limited amount of news programs, enough to stay informed but not overloaded. We can’t ignore it or put our heads in the sand, but it can’t rule our lives either. I do enough shouting at the talking heads as it is! Before each trip, I download some movies from Prime Video that minimize the violence and maximize the laughter…what the world needs the most of. We also have a smart tv in the rig and are able to access Spectrum TV through a streaming app on Roku. When we can get a decent signal, we watch reruns of old comedies, Star Trek series, and endless Star Wars movies. We try to catch the SpaceX launches and keep up with what Elon and his competitors are doing. When the signal is not so great, we catch up on book reading and/or travel planning. We have no intention of ever putting a satellite dish on our rig!
I “Dumped the Dish” for a different reason. When I bought my Super-C back in 2014, there was an “In Motion” satellite dish as OEM gear. A service technician recommended Dish Network so, after speaking to a Dish sales rep, I “pulled the trigger”. When I got my bill a month later, it was almost DOUBLE what the Dish Sales Rep had told me! Of course I called Dish. I was curtly told “that’s what Dish charges”! I dropped Dish immediately. Over the next year or so, I was able to speak to a Dish Sales Rep at a major RV Rally (the Hershey Show). That rep told me that there had been a “disconnect” between Sales and Billing back then. I asked what Dish corporate did to rectify this “oops” and give customers what they agreed to (even if only for 6 ~ 12 months). I got the famous “dumb look” as an answer. Bottom line, I (and many other new Dish subscribers) got screwed over. I don’t expect I’d ever go with Dish Network again
Long story short:
My wife & I have not watched TV for 30+ years. The quality of many aspects of our lives has been greatly enhanced without TV polluting our minds and emotions, demanding our time, and keeping us from being physically active.
Don’t need it, dont want it, don’t miss it, and glad we don’t have it.
Awesome!
Author’s rant reminds me of that “Man yells at clouds” meme. Lol
I prefer the term content to “TV” at this point because the source devices for consumption are numerous. Curating quality content is a tough task. So little time. So little worthy to consume. I prefer the majority of my leisure time to be content free. Unless it is books.
DW likes to watch 70 year old reruns, especially the westerns. I entertain myself with my iPad watching YouTube videos. In the trailer we use the over the air antenna usually getting 40-60 channels. Here at home I just pulled the plug on DirecTv, $169 a month was to much, in the call they offered me a $55 discount, I told them they should’ve thought about that earlier as I had all ready set up the antenna.
A brief history of time. Years ago as we took our rvs from coast to coast and north to south we mostly plugged into rv parks cable networks and watched what was available on the usual national networks. As our rvs became larger and more sophisticated (think 3 tvs, stereo systems, Direct TV, etc) we also had direct TV at our residences. Now as we travel (we just arrived back to Florida after visiting friends and family thru the Midwest and then east and north to Maine) we have been very pleased to find that now many of the rv parks we stay at have excellent wifi connections that allow us all the same TV etc that we use at home (Netfix, Prime, Hulu are some of our favorites) and cell phones, tablets, lap tops, etc. ). No more dishes, cable wires, etc. We can even take our local stations with us on Hulu! We were able to follow the hurricane news on our Tampa area TV stations and keep in real time on the home conditions. Just got home this pm. 5k + -miles and no problems!
Oh by the way, I totally avoid the political bs that has been driving even decent folks bananas the last 6 years or so. Everybody is entitled to their own opinions without all the bashing back and forth. The politics in this country need to calm down and be more respectful!!!
Many people, unfortunately, bring their politics with them wherever they go.
Permit me for one last thought. We traveled through almost every state east of the Mississippi from early June until today. Along the way we met so many kind and decent people of many colors, religions, sizes, shapes and ages! And zero political nastiness, and zero name calling. Just lots of friendly decent folks, their families and pets included. Despite all the rhetoric on tv etc., there is still so much to be thankful for in this country!
My Airstream trailer has a wonderful radio, an antenna television that sometimes gets channels, and a bluetooth at&t something that doesn’t work.
Told dealer we didn’t need a TV but they all came with one. On the road, wife turns it on in the AM to check the weather in the area. At home we have always been “over the air”. Wife- Jeopardy and Perry Mason. Me black and white movies. You WILL NOT drag me out of the 1950s!
Dish, DirectTv, Roku, you name it, they all “broadcast the news” at some point in the day. I find this post very sad that someone want to convince their spouse that because “she hates what’s going on in the USA and the world, he has to give up watching TV.” Her excuse that they are in a RV is “BS.” Put on a “noise cancelling head set” and read a book, no matter how small your RV may be (even if you can’t go out because of rain) you can escape. Bottom line, no man, or woman has the right to say “you can’t watch TV because I don’t want to see it.” The world is NOT one big happy place and it not 1950. GEEEEZZZ.
Then turn your news program off! Sorry but what do you expect the news to be? I remember reading a NBC news program from the 60’s recently. It didn’t tell us readers that is was from the 60’s until the end. It did not sound much different than todays news….we’ll not toonmuch different anyway. Listen to music that you like, or old movies or game shows or whatever floats your boat. Good luck! (Don’t throw out the baby with the bath water). We all know what you mean.
I didn’t buy a RV to watch TV, it was to get away from the family’s electronic stuff at home. To experience the outdoors, take up hiking, ride a bike, see the mountains views, boating swimming at lake and get out and do stuff. Listen to live music, try to play a guitar / percussion, cook some different foods, walk on the beach, play some board games or cards with the family.Talk to my wife and kids about anything important to them. Make some memories with yourself and your family while you can and don’t waste anytime on TV.
I agree on the news and am sick of the political ad’s. They don’t tell us how they will help us, but lie and tell us negative stuff about their opponents. If they only used their advertising money to benefit us instead of making the news media rich.
Could ditch the TVs at home too for all I care. We do watch the evening news to keep up on local issues, but could easily do that via internet. I agree that the programming is just about useless. I have found that most of the programs I watch are BBC!
On our DISH remote we have a channel up and a channel down plus a “Guide” to make an intelligent choice in what you want to watch
I don’t have a TV in the RV for all the reasons you list. If I want to know the news, I subscribe to a number of online newsletters and decide by the headline if I want to be depressed that day or not. Usually not wins.
I started streaming in the RV two years go and parked my dish. Now I stream at home also. The mifi through FMCA makes it easy and much less expensive plus when the internet goes down in the house I can use it.
I agree with the no TV zone. Our TT has a antenna but has not be used since we got it. Your camping enjoy the outdoors.
Each to their own, I say!
We use TV on rainy days, late night before bed, and on super hot days. I hate heat. Rarely watch news never watch ABC, NBC, CNN or the like. We watch Discovery, Animalplanet, National Geographic, History Channel, Travel Channel, Magnolia, some football and women’s college volleyball.
Yep! This about the same for the DW and me, tv was not the purpose of our Coach. Northwest weather nasty we read and watch tv or just go out in the rain, not a big deal. We were in Florida a few years ago at Disney world, one of the rain storms came through everyone headed for cover except us. There was another couple walking towards us, he said “what part of the Northwest are you from”. Enjoy life!
Watch the 700 Club and all the programming on TBN – Trinity Broadcast Network. You will be happily surprised how better you feel about life in general.
Seems like the author just doesn’t know how to turn the channel. There IS something for everyone.
We do not have a TV in our rv nor do we I intend to. We are in nature and we enjoy each other’s company.
I can usually get several stations with the antenna wherever I am. Besides local news and weather, there are a few shows I like but enjoying the great outdoors is my main reason for camping.
My favorite part (ok, one of my favorites) of camping in Key West is no television. Of course, that’s my opinion. My wife will watch as much television as possible given the chance.
I take my coffee outside in the morning and write while she gets her morning fix. Then we make a point of getting away from the camper for most of the day (weather permitting) returning for prime time (unless we find something interesting while we’re out). This has been a workable compromise.
Actually there is less violence now than in the past, especially in the US. It’s just reported more efficiently.
Political ads don’t exist in totalitarian states.
And some of the programs are really great. I have more than 100 to choose from at any given time.
We have a couple of TVs, but really only one in the RV is used. During the winter we are parked on a lot and the first thing DH does is set up the outside TV. I set up record on progams I like to watch. DH watches most everything he wants to outside. But for example tonight it is too chilly to be comfortable outside so he has the Christmas movie thing going on while I have headphones and computer stuff going on. Some days we will just be reading or working around outside. The TV with Dish is a convenience just like the microwave and heater. Some times it get used and sometimes not. I love being able to record a show and then fast forward thru political and other ads that I don’t need to see.
My husband and I gave up on our Direct TV years ago. We used the antenna for local channels when we wanted to see weather and some news. Otherwise if the TV was on it was to see an old movie. We gave up on reading books unless it is old novels that actually had a story (not just sex and sadistic reading) and was more than 250 pages long and you had to keep spending to buy the next book in the series to finish the story. To be honest it was hard at first, but got easier and we noticed we weren’t so cranky and complaining about everything anymore.
In the past there have been no smoking zones when we ate out to keep non smokers away from smokers. I think it’s about time for a no phone area so we don’t have to listen to excess phone conversations while we try to have a conversation with our guest at meal time at our table.
Well, I transported my portable satellite antenna during a 2-1/2 month trip this past summer. Never saw any violence or lying politicians. Never set it up and TV wasn’t turned on even once. The antenna and receiver just took up space, and I only pay Dish if the receiver is activated. I guess you could call that “ignoring” Dish rather than dumping Dish, because it is used when we are home.
We dumped Dish years ago. Don’t miss it at all. Just glad Medicare session is over, no more ads for that.
If you don’t like ads just wait until AI is out in full force for next year’s political season. I predict that we will really hate that use of technology.
My TV sets all have a mute button and I know how to use it.
Medicare may be gone, but Camp Lejeune is back up and running, along with the endless ads for prescription meds that your doctor couldn’t possibly know of, and you need to ask about it.
Yes indeed…🤕
In July, we bought a new fifth wheel which came with a huge TV. We spent the next several months on the road ( from Florida to Great Lakes to Washington, down the Coast to LA and just now back in Florida). We haven’t used the TV although I tucked in some dvd’s. There just wasn’t any time to waste watching a screen. As soon as I can decide how I want to use the space, that big black monstrosity will be history.
I am with you, Gail. Have never had a TV in my camper and seldom watch at home for all the same reasons you put forward and more.
The BEST part of camping, for us, is that we have no tv. Don’t miss it, don’t look for it.
We have made that a rule from our first trip out, close to 50 years ago. (Wow! dang, we’re getting old!) In fact, at our camp, which is off the grid, our son says that being unplugged is exactly why he loves coming there. Win!
how in the world do you manage to get dish tv for only $9 a month — please tell me as mine is $89 a month
That’s the extra charge for another receiver in the RV. Gail probably has Dish in her sticks and bricks. This is how we do it as well. Believe it or not, we bring the Dish for the music, which we have on all the time we’re in the trailer (just like at home). It’s also good for local weather reports. We never watch the news on TV (cable or otherwise).
Agree 100%. We don’t even have a tv in our RV. TV is nothing but garbage now and it is also hard to find a good movie.
With all the so called ‘reality’ shows now flooding every channel, every evening, we pretty much relegated ourselves to watching History, Discovery and Travel Channel, when available. Also, PBS. Even TLC is nothing but inane programming.
I really don’t see how this moronic stuff gets good enough ratings to continue to be broadcast.
I have TV but it’s used to watch movies not hooked to any outside world service. TV at home is constantly running on a channel called MeTV or the PBS channel Create. And that’s 95% for the dogs when we’re not at home. And I haven’t mastered being able to desensitize/unplug myself from this dysfunctional world we now live in. So I guess we cope/hope today for a better tomorrow.
I too have Dish. I have to download the guide every night. It is a pain but I am not willing to spend the time on the phone because I don’t think there is a solution at this time.
I haven’t watched the news in maybe 30 years or more. I don’t care to see or hear it.
We don’t have a TV at all in our camper. Additionally, when I am gone on a camping trip, I observe a total news blackout. Nothing on my phone, nothing on my laptop. Nothing. I am out in nature, so, I give it my full attention.
We fulltimed for 10 yrs and now travel 7 months out of the year. We have taken the TV out of every unit we have had. We have not missed it once. We travel to be outside meet new people and experience new places. All this time the crap on TV has never changed but my wife and I have and our memories are much better.
We have different circumstances, DW doesn’t like news as you, instead she likes 50 year old reruns of westerns, comedies, and even a few old TV dramas. Since I’ve seen all them (the only reruns I’ll watch are John Wayne and only in color) so I select what I like on YouTube videos. My hearing aids are synchronized through Bluetooth so her reruns don’t bother me unless she isn’t wearing her hearing aides(most of the time). Works great, she has hers, I have mine, and never the Twain shall meet. Lol
It all depends on how you use your RV. Full time vs. part time/vacation. It all depends on what is important to you…world/local events vs. taking a break from what’s happening in the world….I personally like to be connected. The challenge is how much time in your day does it take up
Our camper is largely our escape from everyday life, so other than an occasional baseball game or movie on a rainy day, we don’t use the TV much. We read or play games instead.
If it’s been over a year, since the article is from Oct ’22, you probably aren’t getting rid of Dish! 😉
My wife and I mostly watch Smithsonian Channel and other educational or history programming. We do watch the evening “news.” The world has always been, is now, and will always be a violent place.
Ignorance may be bliss, but knowledge is power. Knowing what is happening is important and sticking one’s head in the sand doesn’t change that.
Unless you consider TV news to be the sand. There are lots of places online and in print (i.e. THE WEEK) where you can get most info straight from the mouth, so to speak.
We have 2 TV’s. My wife is a news junky so that’s what she watches. I watch documentaries and stream movies and series that interest me.
If you are done with TV find a quiet spot inside or outside and leave your spouse to do their thing. Otherwise you’ll be dictating your own decisions to them and that’s not fair.
You have a 5th wheel so you should have a separate living room and bedroom with a door between. Use the door to block out any noise distractions.
Yep! That’s my plan.
I gave up TV in 1994. Anything I want to see, I can view on my iPad. My life is full of doing other things, with a little reading in the evening. As a full time RVer, I am always occupied.
This is why we gave up paid TV 15 years ago. We use a Powered Antenna and recieve local tv stations free of charge where ever we happen to be if we want to watch. we will never pay for TV it is not worth it. I agreew with everything you said.
Mel
I won’t be dumping my Dish. However I completely agree that TV as a whole has become about as useful as a hemorrhoid. The shows are neither funny or realistic. While the writers strike for more pay, they obviously aren’t worth what they are already being paid.
The national news is so politically one sided as to be more a political add than objective reporting.
Thank you, Gail! My, my, my, I am writing the 90th comment to your article. Boy, you really hit on something! 🙂 DW got mad at Dish in 2017, so we subscribed to DirecTV. In 2021 DW was at the AT&T store getting new phones for herself and her mother. By the time she left, they had new phones and we were on DirecTV Stream. Between it and Amazon Prime, I am able to watch numerous televidion series originally broadcast in black-and-white (e.g., Naked City, The Twilight Zone, Have Gun Will Travel, and The Gene Autry Show) and a few in color (e.g., The Bob Newhart Show, Rowan and Martin’s Laugh-In, and Columbo). Good luck getting an RV no-TV zone! 🙂
We use our dish network while traveling, at a
$7.00 per month charge on the remote receiver, only while it’s activated. Keep up a little bit on our local sports teams, local news, watch old westerns and other shows, and mostly enjoy the sirius music channels above all else. But usually only when trapped inside due to weather condition or at night.
I could not agree more. Thank you for saying the quiet part out loud.
Cheers
Good luck with your TV task desire to ditch the TV! I fully understand where you’re coming from and fully agree. That news is not good unless it’s bad news according to all of the news channels. Natalie and I rarely rarely watch television during the day while camping. After dinner, more than likely will do a campfire until 10 10:15 PM. We will then go into the trailer and turn the TV on. It is not the TV and it is not streaming. It’s simply Otter lake table system that we hook up to. We keep our travel trailer up there, from the latter part of June and remove it after Labor Day. We travel back-and-forth to 52 mile trip to be with the children on the weekends and the grandchildren as well.
We have never had satellite in any of our RVs, just an antenna. The only things we turn it on to watch (when we can get any reception) are the evening weather report (never news) and NFL and some college football games. If NHL or NBA games were shown on OTA network channels, we might watch selected games. But they aren’t, so it’s only football.
My first question is if you don’t want to watch TV news, why turn it on? we don’t have a TV in our unit but we watch some shows and read the NYT paper on our computers using our hot spots from our Apple phones. Most of the time we get pretty good signals. Reading the major newspapers you can read what you want to read and pass on other ones you don’t want to hear about.
You’re right, but I wouldn’t get rid of it. There might be programs of interest every now and then. Personally, we don’t turn the tv on very often except for a football or baseball game- but that’s rare too. Also, we only watch what’s on the cable or antenna, we’ve never used dish or streamed anything.
I think Anne Murray song about “Really could use some good news today “ is right on it.
We watch the occasional DVD on our 42″ TV. An NFL game when OTA is available .. otherwise we listen to games on Sirius satellite radio.
We are full time RV travelers in our mid 70s, consequently between Oregon State Park hosting and our “fun” time we don’t have room in our lives for much TV and associated negativity.
I consider ALL televised “news” to be propaganda..no matter the source.
I’ve been disconnected from network news since 2007. I decided long ago that the news is not being reported. Propaganda and agendas are being spouted by ignorant talking heads. No news whatsoever! I have Hotspot on my phone so I can watch the likes of Hulu and Netflixs. I also bring DVD’s to watch but that’s it. When I need a weather report, I consult my phone, not some talking head trying to sensationalize the weather for ratings purposes. Like you Gail, I’d rather sit outside around a campfire and have nice conversation and enjoy the company of my puppies and other humans.
I have Dish RV TV. I agree with Gail on the violence/negative news. I have a solution. Eliminate social media from everyone’s life. Problem cured!
I watch antenna tv in my Airstream, I find a radio channel to listen to, or I turn it off and listen to the sound outside, wind, water, people, rarely animals, except for squirrels who drop nuts on the roof.
If dropping nutz on your roof, be glad you were not at Lake Wenatchee SP in the fall.
This rascal squirrel jumped inside the open window of my Samurai and was tearing apart my sheepskin seat cover planning on having a swell winter nap.
I closed the windows and a while later I came out and it had found another way in.
Arrrg..
A mouse trap by the rear bumper did the trick, the cheeze was gone, the trap tripped.
No wacky squirrel, but I didn’t see it the next 2 days.
The Nerve of some critters, at least he/she didn’t climb into my Winnebago and come home with me….😉…………………………
We don’t watch any news shows or anything else on Dish network since 2019. We watch You Tube and learn new things about fishing or my Cricut or the Civil War etc. There hasn’t been a decent anchor since Cronkite passed away.
I’m with you, sorta. TCM movies with no commercials. PBS channels, a few more.
Being out by my lonesome I have a campfire if I feel like it. If it is pouring down rain sitting inside with my Dish @ $5.00 a month is a good deal, when I want to take a break from a good book.
I hear ya. Best way I have found to mute the civil unpleasantness/political noise is turn off the TV and no vmx on the cell phone. Buy hubby a pair of spiffy blue tooth (?) head phones, at least then you wouldn’t have to listen to it.
I have refused to watch TV for the past 2 yrs. Now my outlook on life is much better. I’m not oblivious to what goes on around me. I’m stay informed in other ways. I think visual news makes it worse.