How this calculator works
The calculator turns daily viewing into a yearly total using 52 weeks, then applies the share you plan to cut. The freed hours are shown as full days, as books at your reading pace, and as weeks of moderate exercise using the World Health Organization recommendation of 150 to 300 minutes a week. The exercise figure is a size comparison rather than a suggestion to fill every hour with activity: it shows how large a block of time television occupies relative to a well known guideline.
Formula
Yearly television hours = daily hours x days per week x 52. Time freed = yearly hours x the cut, where the cut is 1 for stopping, 0.75, 0.5 or 0.25 for the partial options and 0 for no change. Full days freed = time freed / 24. Books = time freed x pages per hour / pages per book. Exercise weeks = time freed / 2.5, using the lower end of the WHO weekly activity recommendation.
Worked example
Three hours a day, seven days a week, is 1,092 hours a year. Halving it frees 546 hours, or 22.75 full days. At 60 pages an hour that is 109.2 books of 300 pages, and dividing by 2.5 gives 218.4 weeks of the recommended activity target.
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Frequently asked questions
Is all television wasted time?
No. Television can be relaxing, social and educational. The calculator does not make that judgement; it makes the yearly total visible so you can decide whether the balance is what you want. Some viewing is intentional, and some is just what happens when nothing else is planned.
Why 52 weeks rather than 365 days?
Using days per week and 52 weeks keeps the arithmetic tied to your routine and is easy to check. A 52 week year already accounts for the days you do not watch, assuming your weekly pattern is typical all year.
How does the exercise comparison work?
The WHO recommends 150 to 300 minutes of moderate activity a week, which is 2.5 to 5 hours. Dividing the freed hours by 2.5 shows how many weeks of that lower target the time equals. It is a yardstick for scale, not a plan to exercise for all of it.
Can I use this for streaming rather than broadcast television?
Yes. The input is viewing time, regardless of the source. If you watch on several services, add the times together or check your router or app usage for a combined figure.