TV and Zapping: Guilty Pleasure or Frustration?

It is undeniable that the way we watch television today is drastically different when compared to what happened a few decades ago. Gone are the days when families, in Portugal at least, got together to see what was on at one of the two or three existing channels. Nowadays, there are new ways of watching television, ranging from simple accessibility anywhere, from a mobile device to interactivity that already allows the creation of virtual rooms to watch TV shows in a group, and even the possibility of accessing easily to recordings. A few years ago, but not so many however, if we didn’t see the end of a movie at the time it was on TV, it would be very difficult to know how it ended.

But amid this authentic revolution in the way we watch TV, there is something that remains: zapping! The irresistible desire to go from channel to channel, which perfectly conveys the eternal dissatisfaction of human beings, is timeless. But traveling through the endless menu of channels that we have today, which for some is a distraction itself, even a guilty pleasure, for others ends up leading to frustration. Who never gave up watching TV after 20 minutes of zapping between channels? To help minimize this frustration, we profiled some types of programs that we recommend, based on our mood, what we are doing or our company.

Remote work – music or news channels

The new paradigm of remote work has brought many advantages to workers, but a small problem for those who cannot work in silence. The solution is to tune the TV to a music channel, whether more classical (Stingray Clássico, Mezzo, C Music) or more POP (MTV, MCM POP, MCM TOP) or, if you prefer a “more intrusive company”, you can choose a news channel to stay up to date (SIC Notícias, RTP3, CNN Portugal).

Cooking – cooking or entertainment channels

A pleasure and therapy for some, but just a necessity for others, cooking is always better with company, even if it’s a virtual company on TV. You can opt for a cooking channel (24 Kitchen, Food Network, Casa e Cozinha), plan ahead and choose a past recipe in the box and follow the step-by-step on the day, or simply make your recipe while watching another one being made and get ideas for the next meal. If you prefer company outside the kitchen, opt for a entertainment channel (TLC, E!, Canal Q), which is also light.

Night with the other half – movie or travel channels

For a evening at home with your other half, to start we suggest the most basic, but always successful: an evening of movies or TV shows (TV Cine, AXN Movies, Cinemundo, Hollywood), from romantic comedies to horror movies, everything is possible! For a different night, dreaming about the next vacation for two, why not a travel channel (Travel, National Geographic) to get ideas?

At home with the kids – children’s or wildlife channels

To entertain the youngest, faced with the need to spend a whole day at home, and because creativity and energy for games has a limit, we often turn to children’s cartoon channels (Disney Channel, Panda, SIC K, Cartoon Network), but for a change we suggest a right in the bull’s-eye recipe with children: wildlife channels (Odyssey, Docu Box, National Geographic Wild), since animals are one of their biggest interests.

To nap – channels of feel good TV shows or sounds of Nature

If you are one of those people who can only fall asleep watching television, or if you simply like background music while you take a nap in the afternoon, you have the option of watching a “feel good” TV show (Fox Life, SIC Caras, Fox Comedy), which helps you to fall asleep or, for total relaxation, choose a channel that combines magnificent images with sounds of nature (Stingray Naturescape), it is as relaxing as it gets!

Dinner with friends – sports or music channels

When hosting friends, the important thing is, of course, having a good time at the table, but if it happens on the day of any sporting event, this is a good reason for lots of conversation and fun, so sports channels can be a good option (Sport TV, Eurosport, Canal 11, Eleven Sports). For a more relaxed dinner, try the music channels, which you can adapt to the mood of the day or the profile of the guests (MTV, Stingray DjazzVH1, Trace Urban).

Otília Joel, CMS Project Manager