Satellite television in the context of "Digital broadcasting"

A television show, TV program (British English: programme), or simply a TV show, is the general reference to any content produced for viewing on a television set that is transmitted via over-the-air, satellite, and cable, or distributed digitally on streaming platforms. This generally excludes breaking news or advertisements that are aired between shows or between segments of a show. A regularly recurring show is called a television series, and an individual segment of such a series is called an episode. Content is produced either in-house on a television stage with multiple cameras or produced by contract with film production companies. Episodes are usually broadcast in annual sets, which are called seasons in North America and series in other regions. A one-off television show may be called a television special, while a show with a limited number of episodes is a miniseries. A television film, or telefilm, is a feature film produced for broadcast by a terrestrial or cable network.

Television shows by terrestrial and cable networks are most often scheduled for broadcast ahead of time and appear on electronic guides or other TV listings. The rise of streaming television, however, has made television schedules less relevant than in earlier decades. Some programming may be aired live—that is, events are broadcast at the time they happen rather than at a later time or date—but the vast majority of programming is produced ahead of time. Originally, viewers had no practical way to record a show for later viewing; this changed with the advent of home video, first in the form of videotape recorded on VCRs and later in the form of digital video recorders. Cable television providers began offering certain programming "pay-per-view" or on-demand, with viewers paying a one-time fee to watch a program at a time of their own choosing. Streaming television allows viewers to watch programming at any time with a subscription to the OTT platform service.

Terrestrial television, or over-the-air television (OTA) is a type of television broadcasting in which the content is transmitted via radio waves from the terrestrial (Earth-based) transmitter of a TV station to a TV receiver having an antenna. The term terrestrial is more common in Europe and Latin America, while in Canada and the United States it is called over-the-air or simply broadcast. This type of TV broadcast is distinguished from newer technologies, such as satellite television (direct broadcast satellite or DBS television), in which the signal is transmitted to the receiver from an overhead satellite; cable television, in which the signal is carried to the receiver through a cable; and Internet Protocol television, in which the signal is received over an Internet stream or on a network utilizing the Internet Protocol. Terrestrial television stations broadcast on television channels with frequencies between about 52 and 600 MHz in the VHF and UHF bands. Since radio waves in these bands travel by line of sight, reception is generally limited by the visual horizon to distances of 64–97 kilometres (40–60 miles), although under better conditions and with tropospheric ducting, signals can sometimes be received hundreds of kilometers distant.

Terrestrial television was the first technology used for television broadcasting. The BBC began broadcasting in 1929 and by 1930 many radio stations had a regular schedule of experimental television programmes. However, these early experimental systems had insufficient picture quality to attract the public, due to their mechanical scan technology, and television did not become widespread until after World War II with the advent of electronic scan television technology. The television broadcasting business followed the model of radio networks, with local television stations in cities and towns affiliated with television networks, either commercial (in the US) or government-controlled (in Europe), which provided content. Television broadcasts were in greyscale (called black and white) until the transition to color television in the 1960s.

Cable television is a system of delivering television programming to consumers via radio frequency (RF) signals transmitted through coaxial cables, or in more recent systems, light pulses through fibre-optic cables. This contrasts with broadcast television, in which the television signal is transmitted over-the-air by radio waves and received by a television antenna, or satellite television, in which the television signal is transmitted over-the-air by radio waves from a communications satellite and received by a satellite dish on the roof. FM radio programming, high-speed Internet, telephone services, and similar non-television services may also be provided through these cables. Analog television was standard in the 20th century, but since the 2000s, cable systems have been upgraded to digital cable operation.

A cable channel (sometimes known as a cable network) is a television network available via cable television. Many of the same channels are distributed through satellite television. Alternative terms include non-broadcast channel or programming service, the latter being mainly used in legal contexts. The abbreviation CATV is used in the US for cable television and originally stood for community antenna television, from cable television's origins in 1948; in areas where over-the-air TV reception was limited by distance from transmitters or mountainous terrain, large community antennas were constructed, and cable was run from them to individual homes.

An over-the-top media service, also known as over-the-top television (OTT), is a digital distribution service of video and audio delivered directly to viewers via the public Internet, rather than through an over-the-air, cable, satellite, or IPTV provider. The term is synonymous with streaming platform.

OTT services may be subscription-based or free, and are typically accessed via television sets with integrated Smart TV platforms, streaming devices such as Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Roku, video game consoles, websites on personal computers, and apps on smartphones and tablets.

Electronic programming guides (EPGs) and interactive programming guides (IPGs) are menu-based systems that provide users of television, radio, and other media applications with continuously updated menus that display scheduling information for current and upcoming broadcast programming (most commonly, TV listings). Some guides also feature backward scrolling to promote their catch up content. They are commonly known as guides or TV guides.

Non-interactive electronic programming guides (sometimes known as "navigation software") are typically available for television and radio, and consist of a digitally displayed, non-interactive menu of programming scheduling information shown by a cable or satellite television provider to its viewers on a dedicated channel. EPGs are transmitted by specialized video character generation (CG) equipment housed within each such provider's central headend facility. By tuning into an EPG channel, a menu is displayed that lists current and upcoming television shows on all available channels.

TV listings (television listings, also sometimes called a TV guide or program/programme guide) are a printed or electronic timetable of television programs. Often intended for consumer use, these provide information concerning programming scheduled to be broadcast on various television channels available to the reader – either via terrestrial, free-to-air, cable, satellite or over-the-top MVPD – indicating at what time and on what channel they are due to be broadcast over a period usually encompassing about seven- to 14-days in advance.

Streaming television is the digital distribution of television content, such as films and series, over the Internet. In contrast to over-the-air, cable, and satellite transmissions, or IPTV service, streaming television is provided as over-the-top media (OTT). Television content includes productions made by or for OTT services, and acquired by them with licensing agreements. The length of a streaming television series episode can be anywhere from thirty to sixty minutes (some episodes may be longer).

Of the top streaming platforms, Netflix had over 301 million subscribers as of December 2024, making it the most popular global streaming television platform. In 2024, streaming television became "the dominant form of TV viewing" in the United States. It surpassed cable and network television viewing in 2025.