When I was a child there were 3 TV channels, that was it, but it was plenty enough. There was always something on to watch during the day and evening. I think that at least a couple of those channels stopped broadcasting through the night at that time however the general population was satisfied with the service which they were receiving. Then in 1982 channel 4 arrived bringing with it Brookside. The nation was spoilt for choice. Another soap for us to glue ourselves to alongside Emmerdale Farm, Crossroads, Coronation Street and also Eastenders which began a little later in 1984. We were in for another treat in 1997, Five arrived, or Channel 5 as it was first known as.
Throughout the 1990s satellite TV began to infiltrate our households. People were amazed that they could have approximately 50 channels on their TV instead of just five. Fifty became the new five and if you were lacking 45 channels then there was something wrong with you. The years have ticked by and we now have roughly 100 channels available to us on satellite TV and whether via satellite, cable or Freeview the majority of households now have access to more than five channels.
TV is available 24/7/365 so why do I so often hear people saying "There's nothing on TV to watch"!!!
so true!!!! I think it was also more the case that when there were fewer channels you tended to have "planned viewing" rather than just having it on "in the background" etc!!
ReplyDelete