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Television is a telecommunication system for broadcasting moving image pictures and sound
Television channels each have their own broadcasting schedules and usually have their own news programmes
Many people have a television in their home as a source of entertainment and information
Most television channels provide entertainment programmes and national news but some channels are specialist channels which show material on their specialist subject
The '9pm watershed' means that material that is unsuitable for children, such as swearing, sexuality and violence, are not allowed to be shown before 9pm as children may be watching

The BBC

The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) is publicly funded and produces programmes and information services
It is the largest broadcasting corporation in the world
The BBC provides local and national news, documentaries, arts, drama, entertainment, live music and children's programmes
The BBC also runs social action, education and minority language programmes
The BBC channels are:-

There are also regional BBC channels which are variations of the national channels, such as BBC Wales
BBC Wales runs most of the same programmes as the BBC but, for example, it schedules 'Wales Today' - the Welsh national news, after the British evening news
Channel 4 is an independent television that has a Welsh version called S4C
BBC Wales and S4C produce many of their own programmes, some of which are in Welsh, such as 'Pobl Y Cwm' (People of the Valleys) and Rownd a Rownd (Round and Round)

Licensing

TV licences cost about £10 every month
The BBC uses the public's TV licenses to fund its channels
The TV license means that, unlike other television corporations, the BBC has no adverts, shareholders or political interests

Adverts

Most television channels are funded by companies who advertise their product(s) in the channel's commercial breaks
The BBC does not have any commercial breaks because it is publicly-funded

Terrestrial, digital and sky television

Terrestrial and digital are the two ways in which television programmes and channels are transmitted
Terrestrial is the original means of broadcast and digital is a more modern means
Digital is an improved system which allows broadcasters to deliver more channels and programmes, more functions and a better quality of picture and sound
Digital television is delivered through digital satellite, digital terrestrial and digital cable
Analogue transmission channels include BBC, BBC2, ITV, C4/S4C and Channel Five, but these channels are also transmitted digitally on Sky Television

Analogue-digital switchover

Until 2008, digital and analogue signals are broadcast at the same time
In 2008 there will be a digital switchover in Britain. This means analogue transmissions will be switched off and so everyone will need to have a digital television
Switchover will affect all viewers who have televisions through which they can only receive analogue services
It will take about four or five years to complete the switchover process and it will take place region by region
The switchover will take place between 2008 and 2012
The switchover will happen in 2009 in Wales

Sky Television

Sky television is a digital satellite subscription service
It contains different categories of entertainment and information, such as Sky Sports, Sky News and Sky Movies which have hundreds of different channels
To install sky, you need a mini satellite dish and a sky box
Sky television is the most popular TV system in Britain - 30.5% of TV-owners have Sky, 28.2% have analogue terrestrial and 28.2% have digital terrestrial television

Health risks

Doctors say that watching too much television increases risks of obesity and diabetes because you are inactive. If you watch a lot of television, make sure you also exercise regularly in your free time