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Every couple should pony up for a DVR, and fast.
Couples fight more about what to watch on the tube than anything else, according to a new poll.
Thirty-six percent of couples said they argue over the remote, which ranks above household chores, shared bathrooms, bedside reading, and sharing a bed, according to the “60 Minutes”/Vanity Fair poll released yesterday.
“I think it’s normal” to fight over television, said Krista Williams, a 26-year-old event planner from Staten Island who has been living with her boyfriend for six months.
Television is easily the biggest instigator of arguments in their household, she said.
“I don’t have a problem with sports, but I don’t think you need watch the game, the highlights and the ESPN commentary afterward,” she explained.
The couple only have one cable box and fight every Sunday over whether to watch sports or “Real Housewives.”
Other couples, though, have found peace by laying down some rules.
“Football, UFC [Ultimate Fighting Championship] — I watch that by myself,” said Brian B., a 42-year-old law-enforcement officer who has been married for 15 years.
He and his wife have agreed to watch television separately.
“That’s probably why we’ve been married for so long!” he boasted.
One group that’s happy to hear about couples’ discord over television: cable companies.
“My advice? Get two TVs and put them right next to each other with two cable boxes. We can set that up!” joked Time Warner’s Alex Dudley.
Both Time Warner and Cablevision have apps that allow subscribers to watch shows on their tablets or phone so long as they are logged on to their home’s Wi-Fi system.
Both companies said the apps have been downloaded millions of times.
It has worked so far for Jim Klapak, a 25-year-old chef from Greenpoint who lives in a two-bedroom apartment with his girlfriend of a year and a half — and a roommate.
They rarely brawl over the television schedules for a simple reason: “We all have our own television and DVRs — all three of us.”
The poll also shows the vast majority — 82 percent — of those in a relationship believe reading their significant other’s e-mail is off-limits and say they haven’t done it.
But some people said they simply couldn’t resist.
“Sometimes she leaves things open and I get curious and poke around,” admitted Klapak. “That’s caused some issues in the past.”
Also, more men than women think the hardest marriage vow to keep is “to be faithful.”
That may explain why more women chose “for better or for worse” as the hardest vow to keep.
The February issue of Vanity Fair hits newsstands today and electronic ones, like the iPad, Nook and Kindle, on Jan. 8.
The poll is a sample of 1,100 adults nationwide interviewed by phone from Nov. 16 to 19.