It's not ABOUT the TV. Marshall Rosenberg says to ask for what you want. Asking for what you don't want doesn't have anything to do with getting what you DO want. His example is a W who wants more time with her H. She tells him she doesn't want him to spend so much time working late. He fulfills her request exactly-- rather than working so much, he golfs instead. She got exactly what she asked for, which was NOT what she wanted.
If you want to have some focused time with your spouse, then you have to ask for that (and you have to be willing to hear them say no, too). Manipulating other things, trying to rule out the other options, arguing about what "should" be-- none of those are effective ways to get what we want.
