Kinds of programmes

When you sit down to watch television, you may not think too much about the kinds of programmes you watch. You probably just pick things because you like them. However, there exist the main categories of TV programmes — informational programmes; shows; films and cartoons; programmes on sports, hobbies and interests.

Informational programmes include news (from international to domestic and local affairs), documentaries (about real life events), travelogues (accounts of smb.’s travels), TV shops (selling things and telling the prices) and even commercials or infomercials (inform about certain products or events).

Shows on TV comprise talk shows or chat shows (when guests come to talk about their lives or problems), game shows (when the programme features competitive games or quizzes), humour shows (featuring comedians), talent shows (dancers, singers, circus people, ice-skaters, etc.) and reality shows (when real people put themselves into certain situations).

Films on TV go in variety of styles. These programmes include light dramas where each episode is a new situation called situation comedies, soap operas where the drama is long — continuing from series to series, dramas (are usually action-packed, about life of detectives, police officers, lawyers and doctors) and cartoons.

Programmes on sports, hobbies and interests can be about different kinds of sports — from games to training sessions, DIY programmes (Do It Yourself) that show how to cook, how to repair the houses, how to plant the garden and even how to put on make-up.

	They include such programmes as…	The programme features…	It is usually viewed by…/ The TV audience for the programme is…
Informational Programmes
Shows
Films and Cartoons
Programmes on Sports, Hobbies and Interests

Task 2. What is your opinion of the programmes? Use the following adjectives to express it.

Positive	Negative
amazing, catching humorous, lively educational entertaining realistic, watchable	boring, dull, repetitive humdrum, monotonous tedious, hard to endure insulting, biased

Task 3. Describe your favourite programme using the table.

Factual Information	This programme is… It has been aired since…/It first came out in… It was launched by … Channel.
People in the Programme	Soap opera — soap star — soap actor Game show — host — contestants Chat show — host — guests/celebrities Quiz — anchorman — participants News — newsreader — reporter Documentary — narrator — characters
Setting and Parts	The programme is set in… The highlights of the programme are… The main audience of the programme is…
What the Programme Is About	The programme usually starts with… The best/funniest feature of the programme is…
Credits	I give much credit to…

Task 4. Read the text to talk about watching habits. Use the ‘Key Language’.