THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Sunday, December 3, 1995 TAG: 9511290039
SECTION: REAL LIFE PAGE: K1 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY KERRY DOUGHERTY, STAFF WRITER
LENGTH: Medium: 91 lines
AMERICANS WATCH a lot of television.
How much?
Well, Nielsen Media Research - which found that 98 percent of American homes are equipped with at least one TV set - conducted a survey this summer and discovered that the average American family watches 48 hours and 53 minutes of television a week.
At least that's what they admit to.
That's a whopping 2,542 hours a year. In other words, the average American family spends 15 solid weeks every year watching television.
No wonder no one has time to play Scrabble anymore.
And we love our TVs. TV Guide commissioned its own survey this year and found that one quarter of Americans said they wouldn't give up television for $1 million.
Another 20 percent said they'd give it up, but not for a penny less than $1 million.
Television has become such an integral part of our lives that most Americans cannot imagine living without it.
And we like lots of TV sets. Statistical Research Inc., a New Jersey-based company which studies television viewing habits, reports that most homes have more than one set. In fact, 8 percent of American homes have more than five televisions.
That's more than one per person for the average household.
TV sets are cropping up in the most unexpected places. Televisions have migrated from living rooms and family rooms to bedrooms and kitchens. Some people have television in their bathrooms and on their decks. Some people carry little ones around in their pockets and have them mounted in their cars.
We even sweat to TV. You'd be hard pressed to find a health club without a TV on the wall.
That's not to say all time spent in front of the television is wasted. There are lots of educational shows on television. But the Philadelphia Inquirer ran a story last Sunday studying the content of shows on prime time network TV. The results were that nearly every show between 8 and 9 p.m. on the major networks had some adult content - either sexual references, profanity or ``bathroom'' humor.
The Inquirer found that of 16 weeknight shows monitored during the first week of November, only two - ABC's ``Hangin' with Mr. Cooper'' and NBC's ``Seinfeld,'' had no reference to or depiction of basic bodily functions.
But forget sex for a minute. Let's talk violence.
The Christian Science Monitor reported in 1993 that a child watching two to four hours of commercial television every day will witness 8,000 TV murders and 100,000 other violent acts by the age of 12.
William J. Bennett, the former secretary of education who's on a crusade to get daytime talk shows to clean up their acts, accuses teenagers of watching television instead of getting an education.
Here are some of his shocking numbers: Bennett says the average American teenager spends 1.8 hours per week reading, 5.6 hours on homework and 21 hours watching television.
The only good news - if the Nielsen numbers are right - is that teenagers are watching less TV than Mom and Dad.
So what are we getting at with this dizzying array of numbers?
Real Life is looking for a few good families. Four to be exact. Four families willing to go where few have gone before. Four families willing to make the ultimate New Year's Resolution.
Four families who will PULL THE PLUG.
For a month.
We dare you: Thirty-one days without television.
Imagine, January without ``Oprah'' and CNN and ``E.R.''
Start the New Year off right, pull the plug at midnight on New Year's Eve, keep the sets dark all month, keep a log and talk to us about what life is like without television - and you could win a dozen roses and TV dinners for the whole family.
Before you write to tell us in 50 words or fewer why your family should be featured during the month of January in Real Life, remember: By swearing off television, you will not only miss the New Years' Day parades, you will miss the Super Bowl.
A small consolation may be that the networks hit the airwaves with some dynamite programming after Feb. 1 - it's a sweeps month. ILLUSTRATION: VICKI CRONIS/Photo illustration - The Virginian-Pilot
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by CNB