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To begin with, I would like to give you a short overview of the British Broadcasting System.
There are:
BBC 1 (British Broadcasting Channel; BBC introduced the first high definition system for
broadcasting in 1936, but the first country, that started regular broadcasting, were the
USA in 1939)
BBC 2 (both are under pulic law)
ITV (this is an Independant Channel, which is under control of shareholders; established
in 1954)
Channel 4
SKY Television (it is received by satellite dishes; Owner of SKY is Rupert Murdoch)
15 other channel, regional/local programs
Television plays an important role in many people's life. They become addicted to this easy way of entertainement. They are sitting all day in front of the goggle box and declare TV to their religion. These so called "Couch Potatoes" zap from one program to the next. The Couch Potato Organisation started in 1977 as a small circle of ridiculed loonies and is now an nationwide organisation. Their opinion about the quality of TV is, that everything, that is shown on TV, must be good. All they do is sitting on their couch and watch. Eating becomes unnecessary and must be done swiftly and practically. Therefore, a toaster and a fridge next to the sofa are the best solution.
In our time, watching TV has become an everyday convenience. For most of us, watching TV in the evening is more comfortable instead of reading a book. It's the easiest way of being entertained, and other interesting activities like going fo a walk or playing chess became for many people uninteresting. Nowadays, the Goggle Box becomes more and more the central focus of the family.
Family life is dictaded by television, and children often become addicted by watching TV. But TV can have a bad influence on children. Series and films often show scenes which are not suitable for young people, such as those with sex or violence. Moreover, TV shows you an illusionary world which only exists behind the camera and many people try to escape to this imaginary world without problems. But the Couch Potatoes say, that the Goggle Box is just their gate to the whole world. They can get the hottest news around the clock, always punctual and there's no need to get up from the sofa.
A special part of the TV-program are "soap operas" or "soaps". Originally, they where a creation of detergent manufactures, who wanted to advertise their products. In the 1930's, these soaps went public for the first time. In the 1950's, the soaps were broadcasted on television (as daytime serials). Nowadays, soaps are very popular and watched by millions of people all around the world. They are broadcasted a few times every day. I think, the most famous here in Austria is "GZSZ" .
Also very popular are the so called "sitcoms", some sort of soap opera too. In the USA , for example, millions of Americans are watching every day "Seinfeld", one of the most popular sitcoms. Others are: Friends, Cybill, Ally McBeal...
Sitcoms contain funny scenes taken out of ordinary life, so the actors play characters in everyday life.
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