Introduction: Television is a wonderful gift of modern science. Nowadays it is a popular medium of mass communication. It has brought a remarkable change in human life. It has become a good companion to the lonely people and a friend to the friendless. It is now a part and parcel of everyday life. What it is: The word television comes from the Latin words tele and vision. The term tele means distance and vision means sight. In a word, television means a sight from distance. It is somewhat different from a radio. From a radio we only get the voice of the speaker. On the other hand, we get both the voice and the picture of the speaker from a television. Invention: At first the thought of sending a picture to a distant place came in the mind of Paul Nipkow, a German scientist. But John Beyard, an English scientist was able to give this thought a real shape. As a result, we got television. How it works: The function of a television is mainly completed through two parts. One is transmitter that changes the picture into electro-magnetic wave. Another is the antenna that catches this wave from air. Then we get the picture. Usefulness / Importance: Television is very useful to modern culture and civilization. We can get various news throughout the world sitting at home. Political leaders can also form public opinion through it. It is the best medium of being familiar with customs and traditions, fashions and culture of the people of different parts of the world. Recreation : Television is a great source of recreation. We enjoy drama, dance, music and songs through it. Nowadays we need not go to stadium to enjoy a game like football, cricket, tennis etc. We can enjoy a live tele-cast of them sitting at home. Educative value: Television plays an important role in education. It is being used to teach the students and illiterate people. It also arranges special programs for children, women, workers and soldiers. Abuses of television: Television is not without harm. Sometimes young boys and girls pay their attention so much on it that they forget about their studies which is their main duty. Furthermore, there is also a risk of intrusion of western culture into our culture through satellite TV. Conclusion: Really, the television is the magic of the age. In a developing country like ours, importance of television cannot be ignored. So government should try to make it available among all classes of people.
