5 ms·

Cable television got huge in the 80's. Prior to that, there was just less consistent incentive to sit in front of the TV.

bediger4000 7y ago
Ha ha. You youngsters make me laugh. Sitting in front of the TV was almost universal when I was a kid mid 60s - mid 70s. There might only have been 3 channels (4 if you lived in a big city with a PBS or independent) but we all sat around and lapped up that crap.
- senorjazz 7y ago
  I cannot speak for the US, but in the UK in the 80s sure we all watched telly, however kids programs were on from 3pm to 5:30pm. After that it was go outside. I don't think you were having multiple channels with 24hours programming for kids.
  - bediger4000 7y ago
    Like I said, 3 channels, ABC, NBC, CBS. We watched a lot of stuff that wasn't necessarily developed for children, but at the very least wasn't overtly "mature". The US FCC kept a tighter rein on what was on TV at the time. No swearing, no nudity, not much overt violence. You can see the effects of this in the shows that have survived as "classics" today. "The Brady Bunch" is non-controversial pablum, for example. Get home from school at 3:30pm, flip on the TV to watch whatever local TV host ran a few old Warner Brothers or Terrytoons animated cartoons. Maybe watch "The Lawrence Welk Show" or one of the regional pro-wrestling leagues that predated WWE or roller derby or some re-run, then network news, then Prime Time! The Brady Bunch, Charlie's Angels, westerns, lawyer shows, cop or detective shows, medical dramas, network and local news at 10 or 11pm. I will grant you I'm smearing this out over time. Prime time shows in the 60s weren't the same as during the 70s, local TV cartoon hosts disappeared by about 1975 (no more Binky The Clown, or Cactus Jim or ...), and certainly what got re-run before network news and after 10 or 11pm local news changed. This is totally ignoring the 6am - 12pm Saturday all-kids programming. Mostly badly-animated cartoons, some weird live-action ("Land of the Lost"), but all aimed at and advertised to children. You could waste all Saturday watching crappy animation, then reeling around because you had lost your stereoscopic vision.
- ameister14 7y ago
  That might seem like the case, but television time among men went from about 12 hours a week to 20 hours a week from 1965 to 1995, and from 9 hours a week among women in 1965 to over 18 in 1995. Among children, it's more dramatic - with kids watching 4.5 to 5 hours a day in the 90's.

bediger4000 7y ago

Ha ha. You youngsters make me laugh. Sitting in front of the TV was almost universal when I was a kid mid 60s - mid 70s. There might only have been 3 channels (4 if you lived in a big city with a PBS or independent) but we all sat around and lapped up that crap.

senorjazz 7y ago
I cannot speak for the US, but in the UK in the 80s sure we all watched telly, however kids programs were on from 3pm to 5:30pm. After that it was go outside. I don't think you were having multiple channels with 24hours programming for kids.
- bediger4000 7y ago
  Like I said, 3 channels, ABC, NBC, CBS. We watched a lot of stuff that wasn't necessarily developed for children, but at the very least wasn't overtly "mature". The US FCC kept a tighter rein on what was on TV at the time. No swearing, no nudity, not much overt violence. You can see the effects of this in the shows that have survived as "classics" today. "The Brady Bunch" is non-controversial pablum, for example. Get home from school at 3:30pm, flip on the TV to watch whatever local TV host ran a few old Warner Brothers or Terrytoons animated cartoons. Maybe watch "The Lawrence Welk Show" or one of the regional pro-wrestling leagues that predated WWE or roller derby or some re-run, then network news, then Prime Time! The Brady Bunch, Charlie's Angels, westerns, lawyer shows, cop or detective shows, medical dramas, network and local news at 10 or 11pm. I will grant you I'm smearing this out over time. Prime time shows in the 60s weren't the same as during the 70s, local TV cartoon hosts disappeared by about 1975 (no more Binky The Clown, or Cactus Jim or ...), and certainly what got re-run before network news and after 10 or 11pm local news changed. This is totally ignoring the 6am - 12pm Saturday all-kids programming. Mostly badly-animated cartoons, some weird live-action ("Land of the Lost"), but all aimed at and advertised to children. You could waste all Saturday watching crappy animation, then reeling around because you had lost your stereoscopic vision.
ameister14 7y ago
That might seem like the case, but television time among men went from about 12 hours a week to 20 hours a week from 1965 to 1995, and from 9 hours a week among women in 1965 to over 18 in 1995. Among children, it's more dramatic - with kids watching 4.5 to 5 hours a day in the 90's.