TELEVISION GENRES

MAIN POINTS
•What Is a TV Genre?
•Popular Television Genres
•Questions?
•Summary
WHAT IS A TV GENRE?
• In television, a genre is a style that has its own idiomatic types of storytelling,
characterizations, dialogue, humor, and visual flair. Some TV series and shows
conform rigidly to certain TV genres. Other shows bounce between genres and
subgenres. There is no definitive list of every genre that has ever existed on
television. However, certain genres recur with great frequency and have solidified
popularity over decades.
POPULAR TELEVISION
GENRES
• News: News programming includes local evening news, daytime national broadcasts on
cable networks, and week-in-review programming that often airs on Fridays or weekends.
Some networks run news broadcasts dedicated solely to sports.
• Talk shows: Talk shows or chat shows are television programs based on back-and-forth
discussions between hosts. Daytime talk shows and weekday morning chat shows reach
large audiences, but the most famous talk shows air late at night. Most talk shows cover
pop culture, current events, and politics.
• Game shows: On game shows, teams of contestants or participants called from the
audience attempt to complete puzzles or answer trivia questions, with prizes awarded if
they win.
• Variety shows: Variety shows highlight the talents of their guests.
Variety shows include musical acts, dancing, stand-up comedy routines,
and sketch comedy. Variety shows evolved from Victorian era stage
shows and had their peak on television in the United States in the mid-
twentieth century, though some still continue to this day.
• Sports: Sports programming earns some of the highest ratings in all of
television. Unlike many other formats, sports are often broadcast live,
bringing a sense of immediacy and urgency to the viewing experience.
• Reality TV: Reality television tends to emphasize ordinary people rather
than big stars. Some reality shows are competitions, while others claim
to show slices of real life. Many reality TV shows merge the two,
introducing a competitive element to real-life activities like dating or
home renovation.
• Children's television programs: are television programs designed for
children, normally scheduled for broadcast during the morning and
afternoon when children are awake. They can sometimes run during the
early evening, allowing younger children to watch them after school. The
purpose of these shows is mainly to entertain or educate. The children's
series are in four categories: those aimed at infants and toddlers, those
aimed at those aged 6 to 11 years old, those for adolescents and those
aimed at all children.

• Documentary: Made famous by National Geographic, the documentary is

a documented commentary usually surrounding a historical event,
anthropology, or zoology. The genre usually involves heavy research and
is factually-based, although some modern documentaries contain political
commentary and are mislabeled as documentaries instead of
mockumentaries.

• Television series and films: Soap operas, Anime, Sci-fi and fantasy,
Docudramas, Teen dramas, Romantic comedies, Sitcoms, Drama, Police
procedurals.
 QUESTIONS
• How many of you watch TV regularly?
• What television genres do you watch?
• Do you have a particular favourite show? If yes, what
is it?
• Any additional questions from the audience?
 SUMMARY
• These days, there are so many different kinds of TV
programmes available. The different genres have mixed
with each other over time, creating different hybrid
programmes. Most of them have survived and still
provide entertainment or information to a lot of people.
THANK YOU FOR
LISTENING!