MICKI BARE Advertisement

Television viewership has been down lately, which is bad news for producers and sponsors of television programming. Reports of declining interest in watching television are intriguing, given the American love affair with ever-higher tech ways of tuning in -- cable, satellite, surround sound, flat screens, HDTV and so on.

So, if we're buying bigger and better quality equipment for watching television, why is there a decline in viewership?

A week or so ago, I spent several evenings peeling, dicing and freezing tomatoes. While I was fighting against time and mold, I wasn't concerned with prime-time programming. Of course, from now on, I won't have to spend quite so much time freezing tomatoes, thanks to several tips I received via e-mail last week.

Did you know you can simply rinse and freeze whole tomatoes? And that when you take them out of the freezer to make sauce or stew, the skins slip right off? I had no idea, but I'm going to find another great tomato deal and try out this method soon.

My husband and I also have three very active children. We attend lots of evening ball games and music concerts throughout the year. That means forgoing television as we get out and about with other families of active teens.

We are no different than other Americans in need of entertainment as an escape from the real world, so we do appreciate a good television sitcom or drama series. We like to catch movies and sporting events on television, as well. But with the schedules we keep, we tend to digitally record shows and events.

When we actually do have time to kick up our feet and dip into a bowl of popcorn in a semicircle around the television, we retrieve our recordings rather than watch what is currently airing. Someone holds onto the remote at all times so we can zip through the commercials. This practice cuts down considerably on our TV-watching downtime.

Sometimes, as we're reviewing what we've recorded, we actually delete shows without watching them. A week after the big "episode," after hearing about it from others and reading about it on the Internet, we decide it is no longer something we care to watch.

And since we are frequently plugged into the Internet, there are some shows and events we never watch or record, because we can get the scoop while browsing our favorite Web sites.

We used to get the latest weather developments while watching television. Now we rarely watch live television so we are ignorant about severe thunderstorms with golf-ball-sized hail until hail is actually bouncing off the hoods of our cars and our plastic chairs have blown off the porch.

So why is all the fancy, high-tech television equipment still selling so well? My parents, like many Americans, have a home theater room rather than a living room. That's not because they watch so much television, but because they do not go to the movie theater any more.

My dad would never pay money to sit in a crowded room with hundreds of other people, sticky candy, popcorn, whiny kids and cell phone ring tones "accidentally" chirping every few minutes just to see the latest flick. He prefers waiting four months to rent or buy the movie so he can view it in the comfort of his own home.

I must admit there are plenty of movies we missed in the theaters. My children are the first to say, "That's OK, we can wait and see it at Grandma and Grandpa's house." It certainly doesn't hurt that Grandma's homemade pizza beats greasy popcorn or that she usually has a yummy ice cream treat waiting in the freezer.

And with DVDs and DVRs, if someone needs a potty break or the phone rings or the Chinese food arrives, we can pause our entertainment of choice.

And if a particular scene in a movie or play on the field causes an internal family dispute, we can rewind and play back the offending scene in slow motion to quickly settle the matter.

It seems many Americans have finally taken control of their television viewing habits, much to the detriment of the industry. But not to worry, Hollywood. I'm sure masterminds are at work right now devising new, interactive ways to lure Americans back into their armchairs, and sponsors back into their expensive contracts.

And I might even have time to catch some of it, now that I know the shortcuts for freezing my farmers market tomatoes.

Micki Bare is a columnist for the Arkansas News Bureau and the Courier-Tribune in Asheboro, N.C., and author of the book, "Relative Expressions." She lives in Asheboro with her husband and three children. Her e-mail address is mickibare@inspiredscribe.com.