British and the box

Television is the most used and most varied media source in almost every English household. Thanks to technological advances, tv isn't only used to watch your latest soaps and music videos anymore. Viewers can now have access to hundreds or even thousands of different channels, specialising in news broadcasts, documentaries, films etc. There is so much choice, in fact, that you can often find yourself flicking carelessly through dozens of channels using your remote control for hours!

Thanks to the switch over in 2010, English homes now have access to over 40 free standard tv channels using Freeview. But if you're a real couch potato and love to slob out on the couch and watch the box you can also subscribe to cable tv, personalising your viewing time.

What's more, televisions can now be interactive; smart tv's allow you to interact with the programmes you watch. From choosing to be redirected to a website by ‘pushing your red button’ when you see something you like, to leaving a comment about a talk show topic that your eyes are glued to.

With so many addictive series, quiz shows, reality shows and shopping channels, it's easy to get square eyes. But if that sort of tv doesn't rock your boat then why not watch something intellectual? Nowadays tv can be extremely educationally stimulating too! You can keep up to date with the latest news around the world... Or why not learn about the planet in an interesting documentary or practise a new language watching a foreign film?

Whatever you choose to watch, and whoever you choose to watch it with.... Don't sit too close.