British television

British television

The most important broadcaster on British television is the BBC. It is the world's oldest and biggest broadcaster and is a public and not private service which means people pay a license fee to have it and there are no adverts during its programmes. The BBC was established in 1922 and started off as a radio broadcaster. From 1936 onwards it began broadcastig in the world of television. Today the BBC has two channels on terrestrial TV, BBC1 and BBC2.

It also has many different digital channels such as BBC news.
The main private channels in the UK are ITV (Independent Television), Channel 4 and Channel 5. The programmes on these channels are interrupted by advertisements. ITV is the most popular private channel and has different regional TV programming in each region of the UK.
The most popular types of programmes on British TV are soap operas and drama series.
Soap operas are ongoing fictional series shown three to four times a week. The most popular soap opera is Eastenders which is set in the East of London and is about the lives of people living in a poor neighbourhood known as Walford. Drama series are shown once a week and are based on a plot which develops in each episode.
The expression soap opera refers to a radio or television series which is about lives of many characters often in a sentimental, melodramatic way. By the 1939 the press started calling the shows "soap operas" because so many were sponsored by soap manufacturers. The term "opera" was already in use for a film or a TV show.