How do we spend our free time? Some 20 or 30 years ago the usual answers used to be: "We're going to the theatre" or "We're going to a party". Now we very often hear "We're going to stay at home and watch the TV!"
Television is now one of the most important mass media. It plays a great role in our life today. But when and how did it become an ordinary thing in the household today?
The idea of a machine able to broadcast both sound and vision goes back to 1875. But only in 1926 a Scottish engineer turned the idea into a practical reality. John Logier Baird produced the first TV pictures just 8 years after the World War I. Soon his original system was improved and in 1936 Britain's first regular TV programme went on the air. But Great Britain wasn't the only country-producing programmes. Other European countries were also involved in the early days of TV. US television boomed in the late 40"s. CBS — one of the American networks developed a colour service in 1951. In 1953 TV took another important step when it covered its major international event — the coronation of Britain's Queen — Elizabeth II.
By the end of the decade TV culture was rapidly becoming a fact of life on both sides of the Atlantic. In 60's and 70's TV started to satisfy the public's desire, not just for entertainment, but also for rapid accurate information.
We can hardly imagine our life without television. It offers the viewers several programmes on different channels to satisfy all tastes. It's a convenient source of information as it informs us about current affairs and the latest developments and achievements in science and technology both in our country and abroad. It also broadcasts meetings between famous people in various walks of life.
You can also get a lot of useful information from a great number of educational programmes, which are very helpful and interesting for children and grown-ups. By watching the