Ambience or attention

Many people I know, my self included, sometimes turn on the tv or radio just to fill the home with sound. I get the feeling that it doesn't matter what's on - it's more about ambience than attention, more about the feed itself than the content. It's an interesting difference between putting on a cd and listening to the radio, and between putting on a dvd and turning on the tv.

If there where no tv-channels, would we feel more cut off from the world?