My son (2 and a half) watches about 3-6 hours of television a week at home (usually closer to 3 than 6). However, most of that time is spent watching the same shows or movies time and time again.
We generally let him pick what he wants to watch (so long as its something we approve of), and he has some clear favorites. However, even within those favorites, he'll have specific episodes that he wants to watch (for example, almost every time we watch Dinosaur Train, he'll want to watch the "spooky Night Train" episode; any time we watch Mighty Machines, he wants to watch either the train episode, or the race car episode).
It's the same way for movies: he has a handful of movies that he wants to watch over and over again.
I try to get him to watch new shows, rather than the same over and over, but he usually is very insistent that we watch the favorites instead. I feel that if he's going to watch TV, it should at least be something he can learn from, but how much does he learn if its the same show he's seen 20 times?
Granted, the movies aren't educational, but in those cases its more about my not wanting to have to sit through viewing #18 of Cars. With a movie, usually I can get him to watch something new if we can make it through the opening credits (during which he'll be protesting loudly, and sometimes on the verge of tears), but I usually relent if he gets too upset.
I want to ensure that my son grows up willing, or, better yet, eager, to try new things. Perhaps this is too early to really matter, but I'd still like to encourage him to try new things.
How can I best break him out of this pattern?