Television The Most Popular Form Of Entertainment - By: Ekta Manglik

The beginning of the twenty-first century, saw Latin Americans watching around three to four hours of television daily for entertainment and information purposes. Television is still considered to be a relatively new technology which appeared some fifty years ago and was not accessible to the universal audience until ten to twenty years ago. Before the introduction of the television era, people had different sources of entertainment which included parties, festivals, sports, concerts, theaters and cinema. However all these sources of entertainment were not accessible to all the people. For example, cinema did not reach the rural people. Television turned the world into a global village bringing movies, games and news to the people. Television created new genres of entertainment, such as the vastly popular telenovelas. However a vast majority of people did not consider television to be boon to society. Some believed that it lead to a breaking down of social and family values. According to others with the introduction of television people have no time for other as they are busy watching television. The television sets became available since the late 1930s. It became a great source of entertainment and news. Television genres Television genres include a wide variety of programmes that entertains, informs and educates the audience. Drama is the most costly entertainment genres to produce. Other genres, like historical Western genres, may also have high production costs. Popular entertainment genres include action-oriented shows such as police, crime, detective dramas, horror or thriller shows. The drama genre includes other genres like medical dramas and day-time soap operas. Programmes based on science fiction can be included under the category of either drama or action, depending on whether they lay emphasis on philosophical questions or high adventure. Comedy is a popular genre which includes situation comedy (sitcom) and animated shows for the adult demographic such as South Park. Game shows, talk shows, variety shows and reality TV are less costly form of entertainment. The people participating in the various game shows have to answer questions and solve puzzles in order to win the prize. Talk shows showcases the interview of various celebrities and public figures. Variety shows feature a variety of musical performers and entertainers like comedians and magicians introduced by a host. Some leading talk shows also often feature performances by bands, singers, comedians and other performers in between the interview section. Reality TV features ordinary people not necessarily actors who are going through unusual challenges or experiences, ranging from arrest by police officers (COPS) to weight loss (The Biggest Loser). A variant version of reality shows depicts celebrities doing mundane activities such as going about their everyday life (The Osbournes) or doing manual labour (Simple Life).