Characteristics of Television as a Mass Media

                       Characteristics   Of  TELEVISION  As  A  Mass Media

AUDIO VISUAL   MEDIUM

While radio has sound, television content includes both sound and visuals. This audio visual character of television makes it a magic medium which allows us to watch the world from our drawing rooms. This powerful visual nature helps television to create vivid impressions in our minds which in turn leads to emotional involvement. The audio visual quality also makes television images more memorable.

DOMESTIC MEDIUM

To watch television, we need not leave your drawing room. No need of going to the movie theater or buying tickets. We can watch television in the comfort of our home with our family. This is why television is generally regarded as a domestic medium. It provides entertainment and information right inside our homes and has become an integral part of our everyday lives. It can actually pattern our daily activities. Even our family makes it a point to watch their favorite serial at a particular time and adjust dinner timings accordingly. This domestic nature of television influences the content also. We have noticed that a newspaper report has an impersonal tone, whereas the television anchor addresses us directly.  The domestic nature of television makes it an intimate medium. This makes the viewers experience a sense of closeness to the Television.

. LIVE MEDIUM.

The important characteristic of television is that it is capable of being a live medium. This is because the live nature of television allows it to transmit visuals and information almost instantly. The visuals of an earthquake in Indonesia can reach our television set in almost no time. This capacity of the medium makes it ideal for transmitting live visuals of news and sports events. If we are watching a cricket match in a television channel, we can almost instantly see the wicket hit by our favourite player. On the  Television allows you to witness events which happen thousands of miles away.

MASS MEDIUM

All of us know that there are a large number of people who cannot read or write.

Such people may not be able to read a newspaper, but they can watch television.

Anyone with a television receiver can access the information shown on television.

This makes it an ideal medium to transmit messages to a large audience. In a country like ours, with a huge illiterate population, this characteristic of television

Makes it an ideal instrument for transmitting social messages. Television also has a

very wide output, range and reach. It is truly a mass medium.

Television programmes are not easy to be recorded by viewers. It may be practically impossible to record every programme which appears on your television. Therefore, television is generally identified as a transitory medium.

 EXPENSIVE MEDIUM

There is need to large amount of machinery and expertise needed to run a television station. We can write articles and stories and draw our own pictures. All we need will be paper, pen, drawing instruments and time. However, a television programme can never be made this. However, a television programme can never be made this easily. It requires lots of money, machinery and experienced people. Broadcast media in general and television in particular involves complex technology and organization. We will need crores of rupees to start a television station.