MASS MEDIA

John Logie Baird produced the first television pictures just eight years after the First World War. They were in black and white and were not very clear.
Early sets made in the years after Baird´s breakthrough (velký objev), because it is very expensive.
Soon, his original systém was improved (zlepšit) and in 1936 Britain´s first regular TV programme went on the air. „Here´s Looking At You“ was broadcas by the BBC from north London´s Alexandra Palace studios twice a day for a weekly budget of one thousand pounds.
Great Britain wasn´t the only country producing programmes. Other European nations, including Germany, were also involved (zahrnout) in the early days of television.
In America, there is real TV revolution began after World War Two. One of the American networks – CBS – even developed o colour service as early as 1951.
By the end of the decade (desetiletí), TV culture was rapidly becoming a fact of life on both sides of the Atlantic. More and more sests were sold, the importance of TV news quickly grew.

Since 1980 there have been four more major developments (rozvoj). The first is video, which has given viewers the power to control what they watch and when tehy watch it.
The second is satellite TV. Thanks to DBS (direct broadcas satellites), dozens (tucet, přes deset) of new channels are now available to anyone who buys a receiving „dish“. Many of these new channels specialise in one kind of programme.
The third is cable – a systém of hi-tech wires, which provides even more channels … at a price. Cable also makes it possible for you to communicate through your TV, not just the other way around.
Fourthly, there´s HDTV (high definition television), which now offers a much clearer and more realistic picture than was possible