Mon. Nov. 3 - Cheryl Temple

3.) Monday was pretty much an atypical day for me in terms of my viewing habits. I ended up watching a lot more TV from an actual TV set than I normally do. I rarely watch TV shows at their regular time, because my school, dance, and work schedule take up most of the time when my favorite shows come on. Also, I live with my parents, and normally they're in control of the tivo. However, for this assignment, I had them tivo a few shows that I usually watch online.

Dirty Sexy Money, The Office, and What Not to Wear are shows that I rarely miss. I don't have to record What Not to Wear, since TLC repeats the show over and over. Dirty Sexy Money and The Office are shows that I normally watch online, but since my parents were kind enough to record them for me, I was able to watch them on the tivo. Ugly Betty is something I've just recently gotten in to that my parents record for their own viewing. I wanted to watch Dancing with the Stars, but a phone call from my sister ruined that dream. So while I had the TV turned on to the show, I wasn't paying any attention to it, and filled in the "TV on but no one watching/listening" blank on the journal. I also filled in that blank on the journal at 2 am when I wasn't watching HGTV programming, but had it turned to that station to help me fall asleep. I did not record any shows for myself on Monday, but I wish I would have recorded The Big Bang Theory. I watched the first season, but I haven't seen any from the second. : (

4.) I did watch two TV shows that were not on my TV--Psych on Hulu.com and, as embarrassed as I am to say it, The Hills on MTV.com. I also watched Tim Gunn's Guide to Style with my sister at her house in Portland, because I don't get BRAVO with the cable at my house in Ingleside. I also watched the very beginning of her rented copy of The Hulk just before I left her house.

When I was at my house watching shows on the TV, my parents watched all shows that I was watching from 6 pm - 11 pm, as well as when I watched Gilmore Girls at 4 pm (my dad's a big fan). When I was watching Psych and The Hills online, I was the only one watching the shows.

5.) I didn't mind writing down my TV viewing in the journal. I'm not a big channel flipper, so most of my TV fit into the 15 minute increments. However, I don't think I'd be a good person for Nielsen to have write down what I normally watch on a given day, because the bulk of my TV viewing does come from online. I watched more TV on an actual TV set this particular day because it was my one and only day off from my activities, and so that I would have something to put in the journal. But if I were to record a normal day of my TV viewing, I'm sure almost all of the journal would be left blank. I don't think this type of journal is very reliable given the technology today that allows us to watch shows without turning on our television sets. However, I don't consider my everyday schedule normal, so maybe most people view TV from a TV.