If and when I want to watch the train wreck that is cable news, it is very easy to do so - it would nice not to have it forced into my field of view when I'm on a treadmill.
That said, the article still offers:
> The big-screen TVs at all clubs will now air “USA, A&E, Discovery and HGTV, in addition to local stations and ESPN”
I'm delighted to have found a gym that simply doesn't have massive TV screens within every line of sight. Put optional ones in cardio machines, sure. But I don't actually want to watch anything while I'm working out, and it's strange to me that screens are so omnipresent in gyms.
I like shopping at Aldi because they don't play music.
The worst are chains which don't just play pop music but also have pseudo radio jockeys which talk about gossip and try to be funny. It's insultingly stupid.
The gym I'm currently at doesn't have any TVs. Unfortunately, they play some music. The volume is very low, though.
They also used to play loud pop music in the stores until the clerks couldn't stand it themselves and lowered the volume. Every time the district manager visits he makes them crank it up high and the minute he leaves the volume goes back down again ;<)!
There was a gas station that I used that had that annoying GSTV stuff going, but one day the machine refused to give me my receipt until the video stopped playing. Amusingly, that location closed less than a month after that. Good riddance.
A new one opened in its place with none of that nonsense.
I'll one-up you - the grocery story nearest my house has abandoned all pretense, and just plays a non-stop ad loop over the PA. It's easier to tune out than bad pop, granted, but it feels like absolutely shameless abuse of my attention.
As for music in gyms, I suppose I'm cheating - the rock gym I go to plays music that could easily have been from my Pandora station, so I don't actually worry about how annoying it might be.
Same with bars. I want to go have a drink and chat with people. I just don't understand the need for TV in places like these.
And some people go to the bars to watch sports with their friends
I might be spoiled, though. In a city this size I can find most any type of bar I want - when I lived in a spot where Buffalo Wild Wings was considered a 'good' bar, I felt a bit differently.
As a reason for deafening music in clubs, sure. As a reason for screens and volume-on in pubs? I've definitely left bars early, or avoided them altogether, specifically because it was too hard to have a chat with friends.
My 'local' has one small TV, muted, and the rest is live music, talking, and posters on the walls. It's a proper "third place", and doing incredibly well for it - so much so that I wonder if most bars are just scared of taking the risk.