April 12, 2005

Japan #1, USA #2 in hours of TV watched per person per day
posted by Mostly_Muppet 19 years ago
  • OMG DON'T CLICK THE TINYURL LINK IT GOES TO GOATSE. just kidding The Japanese watched the most television last year, clocking in a daily average of five hours. That's a really high number. 8 hours of work, 8 sleep, 5 tv, and there's barely enough time left to commute, eat, and bathe. And that's just the average.
  • Thanks muchly, fuyugare. My only real gripe about tinyurl is that they eventually expire and are re-used, so the archives might point to places other than intended after a while. I think there may be a place for an FAQ item discouraging tinyurls for this reason. Just my .02. And interesting post, Mostly_Muppet. I'm personally shocked that the US isn't ahead by some obscene margin.
  • Well, we're just going to have to try harder.
  • We've been watching less TV than Japan for three years and we've been happier. Neo "beconed" us.
  • "never been happier"
  • Greece is right behind the US. Expect preemptive assaults of Bay Watch and infomercials.
  • Hell, last time I was there I couldn't un-peel my eyes from the TV. Their shows are far more entertaining than anything seen on television in the US. Look at all the shows and movies that are of Japanese origin which get re-spewed re-translated here on the lovely American shores... Just last night: I saw a snippet of the US version of "Iron Chef," I saw a poster glued to a wall outside my apartment advertising the "Ring Two" and my mother talked her ear off to me about how good "Shall We Dance" is [when I said the original Japanese version is probably much better than the US offering of J-Lo and Richard Gere, she didn't believe that it was a re-make]
  • From the TinyURL main page:
    By entering in a URL in the text field below, we will create a tiny URL that will not break in email postings and never expires.
  • I saw the original "Shall we dance" - could that be translated? There were so many moments that seemed so culturally specific, including the riske nature of the dance itself.
  • Dammit! We coulda been number one if it wasn't for that lousy Turn Off Your TV Week!
  • American home in which I was a recent guest -- tv in the kitchen, monster tv in living room, large tv in den, a tv set in every bedroom in the house (5) plus a small one outdoors on the partially roofed deck, and all but one on the deck were left on all day long, as a matter of course. Found it unnerving to have a conversation with the adult and teen-aged residents since their gazes kept drifting screenward most of the time, unless we chanced to be in the dining room.
  • Sorry about the TinyURL. I was at work and rushed and the post form yelled at me for having a URL that was too long. I took a shortcut and I apologize.
  • I am with beeswacky, the US was robbed
  • Must be all those hikkomori kids messing with our averages...
  • Hm, sweden's the lowest. With three broadcast channels, two of them public, I'm not too surprised. I do enjoy the programming, though, when I'm there. I don't watch tv, but I don't really consider it a bonus-- I just switched to the internet and doubled my intake.
  • Thanks. I missed this one yesterday as I was too busy watching television.
  • jb: exactly! That's what made that movie so wonderful, the cultural innuendos which cannot be applied the same way to US "culture." And following up on bees observation of multiple tvs in American homes: were you visiting my mother's house?? I think that is very common in the US, although I think they tend to be background filler rather than instrument of meaningful use
  • I currently have three computers in my bedroom, two of them on right now.