Which TV shows are hardest to understand for you?

I do not wear my hearing aids all the time, but at home, when watching TV, I need them for certain shows almost always.

It also depends on the TV I am watching. When watching a DVD attached to the older kitchen TV, I need them for just about everything, unless I blast the volume.

My HD Vizio is much better soundwise, BUT I need either the aids or TVEars to listen to Jay Leno.

Which shows/networks drive you crazy??

I like your question. Until I got my hearing aids I thought that everyone mumbled on Gossip Girl…actually, it seemed like they mumbled on most tv shows!
What does your audio look like? Mine is listed below… Isvit similar?

New season of “V” is inaccessible with or without hearing aids, including with FM system plugged into the TV, HAs set to FM only and strong concentration. Also totally immune to BBC Radio 4 - no idea what frequency they broadcast their programs on but oh boy is that nonsense. My dad has listened to “The Archers” every night of my life and I still have no clue what has gone on in any of it - Hmmm frrr frr frr emm wwwwrrrr fah fah fah? Yer herrrr mi do dat in grrrmdat.

And anything with sudden and extreme changes of volume, those movies where one minute people are whispering about some plan or other, then they set off an explosion or there is painfully loud music, followed immediately by more people creeping around in the dark with their faces in shadow and whispering. I want a special “movie mode” in my programs that compresses everything, I’ll have zero gain on those loud sounds (but not have them sound like a struggling hearing aid either, thanks!) and masses on the whispering.

Betty, I have a very mild loss.

Kids comics like Bugs Bunny & Co and that genre I don’t get half of what they say. But with my aids on tv is pretty good now in general. My partner is thrilled that we no longer have to pump the volume

I believe I too have a very mild loss. Are we about the same? I still am not convinced that I need the HA’s in all situations. How about you?

From that audiogram you have a steeply sloping loss, with little to no loss in low frequencies but a severe loss in very high frequencies, so whether or not you feel you need your HAs is probably related to the type of input you are receiving. I would bet you can converse easily with men without any hearing aid, indeed you may find them easier to understand without since your ear is not bunged up with a mould/dome and you don’t have any microphone and speaker distortion happening to it. But I’d also bet that if you sat down to an episode of the Simpsons you’d be a bit mystified.

But then again sometimes what you can hear doesn’t seem to match up with how it comes out on pure tone testing. I can’t understand men even though by frequencies they should be in my best range, they seem to talk entirely without consonants, and I can’t understand little children either.

In your case it makes no sense to average your loss, but this “Ski-slope” pattern is one of the most common so most will know what you mean if you describe it like that. Hopefully that’s not a nasty shock to you, though, that you have quite a big loss in your highest frequencies.

Thanks for your input. I do realize that I have a significant loss in the higher frequencies. What happened to me is that about a year ago I went for an audiogram because I realized that I was not hearing well. When I asked the audiologist about hearing aids - she said I did not need them. I doubted her and went to a hearing aid office near my home. At that time I did not realize that all hearing aid dispensers were not audiologist. In any event, he said I would benefit from hearing aids and I ordered a pair of Starkey Series S ric aids. I found them useful but was not convinced that they were appropriate for me based on the first audiologist’s response to my loss.
Fast forward to now - a year later. I now realize how much they help and have started wearing the HA’s full time… but when I look at the losses most of the people on this very useful forum have… I still feel that mine is not that significant compared to other people’s losses. I think they may not have worn aids with my loss (does this make sense???)
Anyway – I love this forum and input from other people who do wear hearing aids. None of my friends wear them and I have no one to discuss this with — even to the extent of what to do with the HA’s at night and cleaning them.
So thanks for your input and I appreciate your help. Betty

If you’re having trouble understanding the television, you could try a loop system, or check out a new system called the Audio Fox. It’s a wireless speaker system that attaches right to your chair. It gives you the option of taking your HA’s out and not having to wear headphones.