The television kept on for company has a different job from the program being watched.

Sound left running in an empty room is doing something other than entertaining you. It is filling a silence that would otherwise be noticeable, offering the shape of another person in the house. That is a real need, and there is nothing embarrassing about meeting it this way. Trouble only starts when you mistake the two jobs and wonder why hours of watching left you unrested.

Try naming which one you are after when you reach for the remote. If it is company you want, you might sometimes choose a voice you like, or a call, or an open window.