TV WORTH LISTENING ?

Except,of course, for Bay Watch reruns and Monday Night Football, there is surprisingly little "visual" to actually watch while facing the TV. I haven't watched TV for years and being legally blind has little to do with it. We all know that TV is a wasteland. But I find also that the "TV" part of TV is pretty much useless. In fact, not being able to see but only listen to the Tube was, for me, revealing. Try only listening. My personal estimate is that fully 95% of most TV programs requires only listening and the visual is surprisingly unnecessary. News stories, for example, rarely need any visual component--its just the anchor gal yammering on, or the person interviewed gabbing away. Seeing them is unnecessary. When there is footage with visual impact no matter how vapid (usually lurid or titillating) the aural is sacrificed to support the visual. Talk (which carries the ideas)is subordinated to the visual which is almost always disappointing. With footage of that darn kitty wearing a silly hat or an "awesome" car crash--the TV news will be arranged around the hot visual - not any actual news. And I learned long ago that the visual is almost never worth moving my bod off a couch and putting my nose 2 inches away from the screen. Good talk is interrupted by pictures on TV and there just aren't that many cool pictures. As the journalists cynically observe "If it bleeds, it leads." Try watching TV without "watching" the TV. Just listen. You will be surprised at how little the visual images matter and also how inane the talking is that supports those pictures. I love radio. Try NPR.