Week 16: Types of Television Programs

The increasing diversity in television formats is paralleled by an increasing diversity in television program content. Like the content of Academic painting, the content of television programs can be categorized into various types or genres. There is no formal or official ranking of these genres, but certain ones are clearly more popular than others. Among the genres offered every day on television are: news, sports, game shows, talk shows, reality shows, sitcoms, soaps, dramas (often crime dramas), and ho-to’s including exercise, classes for language, cooking shows, home decorating shows, etc. There are also children’s programs educational programs, programs designed especially for women or for men or for certain ethnic groups. In addition, there are various language-based programs, such as Fox Sports en Espanol and GALA in Spanish.