World Television Day – 21st November

In 1996, the United Nations proclaimed 21st November as World Television Day, “in recognition of the increasing impact television has on decision-making by alerting world attention to conflicts and threats to peace and security and its potential role in sharpening the focus on other major issues, including economic and social issues.” 21st November was chosen as it was the date on which the United Nations held the first World Television Forum in 1996.

World Television Day is a day to support the development of television media in providing unbiased information about important issues and events that affect society around the world. The day is to remind us that TV is so much more than linear viewing. While the TV landscape has undergone a fundamental change in the last 21 years, TV remains an important part of people’s lives around the world.

The theme for World Television Day 2024 edition is “the power of television and its role in society”.

TV offers an unmatched variety of premium films and series, trustworthy news, informative documentaries, entertaining shows, and more to viewers around the world – millions of stories, just waiting to be discovered, changing the viewers’ perception of the world. This premium content, available when and where they want on a multitude of TV platforms triggers the curiosity, interest, and loyalty of viewers, always in a brand-safe environment.

Since the United Nations declared November 21 as World Television Day, the world on this day every year takes a moment to look back on how the journey of converting visual images and sound into electrical signals and transmitting it to various locations has impacted the globe.

1. In today’s world the population is interdependent on everything through information. The sharing of information has a lot of impact on global activities like culture, trade, events. The information that is shared through television programs has made the world a global village and has taken this step several notches higher. The global population is well informed about various events held with real-time coverage provided by various media outlets, we are well informed of various events and happening in other parts of the world through TV. The leverage of technology by media outlets in the dissemination of their programs is also helping the leadership of organizations and nations to make much more viable decisions that encompass their various subjects.

2. Not only information people have the benefits of receiving education through television also. There is a lot of educational material available on television like storytelling, discussion, teaching, training, and research in various television programs that help to enlighten people of various national and international issues. Television media now have been trying many interactive and engaging technologies which bring a new experience for their audience and make the information much easier to understand by common people. The knowledge-based on issues of political, social, and economic amongst others have been greatly impacted through their television experience.

3. The tripartite impact of television cannot be complete without mention of the entertaining bit of TV experience. Television exists to illuminate and to entertain. It holds a mirror to our lives, either directly (through news and current affairs), or indirectly (through comedy or drama), and allows us to escape our existence by entering worlds different from our own. The balance between entertainment and information varies depending on where in the world, which channel, or what program you’re watching, but all audiovisual content should at least aspire to deliver one or both of those ends.

4. With the many positive impacts the advent of television has had on the global population, the world has also had to grapple with some downsides one of the most important inventions in global communication and information dissemination. The negatives of television on its viewers exist in various forms from individual to regional, national, and global. The Internet can deliver more information but still can’t transport in the way television can.

5. The combination of plasma widescreen and high-definition images means that television packs a bigger emotional punch than ever before. The arrival of digital storage means that lovers of television can, at last, begin to access the remarkable canon of work the medium has produced in the past 50 years. And the democratization of video technology means the next generation understands the language of television as well as – if not better than – they understand the spoken or written word.

Television still has the ability to bring people together, to create communities with something in common on a scale no other medium can really rival. On an individual base, the perception of television viewers is likely to be influenced one way or another, depending on the kind of programs an individual is exposed to.

The television space is only going to keep growing and so will its impact on the world population. It is important serious attention is paid to them in order to effectively utilize the positives and also work on managing the downsides.

Famous Quotes by Influential personalities on Television

Television can be a tremendous force for good. It can educate great numbers of people about the world around them. It can show us how much we have in common with our neighbors, near and far. And, it can shed light on the dark corners, where ignorance and hatred fester. The television industry is also in a unique position to promote mutual understanding and tolerance – with content that tells the stories not just about the powerful, but about the powerless, and not just about life in the world’s richest pockets, but also in the developing countries that are home to the majority of the world’s population. – Kofi Annan (Former Secretary-General of the United Nations)
Without TV – politics would stop. New fresh impulses, ideas, and political parties would not have a chance without TV. Before, crowds would gather in big parks to listen: today these are replaced by TVs. TV has finally made the world around for real! – Alf Svensson (Former Member of the European Parliament, Sweden)
Television is as powerful as a nuclear force. It can destroy or save a nation. – Gheorghe Zamfir (Artist, Romania)
Television always carried me: be it at my beginnings in small series and telefilms, or through my success in Kasamh Se and Bade Acche Lagte Hain. Thanks to TV, I saw an incredible dream come true: I could incarnate good and bad people, share my joys and pains with the audience, but also be part of this incredible medium that can educate and entertain at the same time! And with new TV platforms, the journey has only just started … – Ram Kapoor (TV actor, India)
TV is fascinating – at its best moments, it is the campfire of our generation. And I’m allowed to be the storyteller by its side. That is fantastic. – Steven Gätjen (TV presenter, Germany)
Watching television is like taking black spray paint to your third eye – Bill Hicks (American stand-up comedian)
Television is a triumph of equipment over people, and the minds that control it are so small that you could put them in a gnat’s navel with room left over for two caraway seeds and an agent’s heart. – Fred Allen (American comedian)
TV is the most generous medium. It even seems to benefit its competitors. – Sir Martin Sorrell (S4 Capital Executive Chairman & former CEO of WPP (world’s largest advertising company), UK)
TV is now the greatest cultural influence in the world. It crosses all human boundaries and has the capacity to bring people together, when used in a positive way, like no other medium. I love to watch TV ‎wherever I am in the world and never cease to be both entertained and informed by it. – Bonnie Tyler (Welsh singer, songwriter, businesswoman & active philanthropist)