Columnist Lisa Ferguson: Sun Lite for April 19, 2004

Lisa Ferguson

Monday, April 19, 2004 | 2:35 a.m.

Off with their Tivo!

We've heard the warnings that too much television is bad for our eyes (if you sit too close to the set), brains (if you believe everything that you see and hear on it) and waistlines (if you sit too long and eat everything within arm's reach while viewing) all good reasons to turn off the tube in honor of the 10th annual TV-Turnoff Week, which kicks off today and runs through Sunday.

The people at the Washington, D.C.-based TV-Turnoff Network a nonprofit organization that urges grownups and youngsters to watch less television in an effort to promote "healthier lives and communities" are always thinking outside the box (or outside the state-of-the-art plasma screen, as the case may be). On its Web site, www.tvturnoff.org, are anti-TV quotes, including this nugget of knowledge President Bush shared with a group of schoolchildren: "Sometimes boys and girls would rather watch TV than read. When your teachers say read, they are giving you pretty damn good advice."

ABC News anchor Ted Koppel's take: "We have reconstructed the Tower of Babel, and it is a television antenna: a thousand voices producing a daily parody of democracy, in which everyone's opinion is afforded equal weight regardless of substance or merit."

Legendary funny man Groucho Marx once remarked: "I find television very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other room and read a book." Even Pope John Paul II threw in his holy two-cents worth: "In many families the television seems to substitute, rather than facilitate dialogue among people. A type of fast' in this area could also be healthy."

And, finally, some poignant words from poet T.S. Eliot: "The remarkable thing about television is that it permits several million people to laugh at the same joke and still feel lonely."

At this rate ...

But what's a little loneliness when you consider that your viewing habits could potentially help shape the networks' fall schedules?

At least, that's what Amir Ajizadeh might have you believe. He is the founder of www.iTvRatings.com, a company in Sterling, Va., whose business it is to assist networks determine what shows viewers are (and are not) watching. Since last August it has been collecting public input about television offerings through its Web site.

Was last week's episode of "The Practice" a dud? Is "The Bachelor" a big dork? Wish Fox execs would reconsider the recent canning of "Wonderfalls"? Register some personal info (which the company promises not to share) on iTvRatings.com, and voice your opinions immediately following or even while watching a series.

The resulting data is broken into industry-friendly statistics such as the number of people in a certain age group who watched a particular show, and viewers' gender and ethnicity which are e-mailed lickety-split to networks, their affiliates and sponsors who are clients of the company. Meanwhile registered iTvRatings.com voters are eligible to win prizes (Surprise it's a television set!) for participating.

Even if they opt not to acknowledge TV-Turnoff Week, at least scores of couch potatoes can finally do something to help someone ... besides themselves, that is, to handfuls of Doritos during commercial breaks.