Entertainment 'key' to BBC future
The BBC must entertain, says the culture secretary as she delivers a White Paper renewing its charter.

Warning over product placement
Firms must not be allowed to pay to have their products featured in British TV shows, a consumer body argues.

New ITV channel as profits rise
Broadcaster ITV reports a 36% rise in profits and unveils plans for a new television channel.

'Fewer young people' watching TV
Fewer young people are watching television according to the media watchdog Ofcom.

Ofcom mulls TV channel sponsors
Media watchdog Ofcom announces proposals to allow sponsorship of TV channels and radio stations.

TV tops entertainment spend poll
Viewers spent more on TV than any other form of home entertainment in 2005, a global study has found.

TV's future in the hands of viewers
With home theatre, plasma high-definition TVs, and digital video recorders, the way people will watch TV will be radically different in five years' time.

New era heralded for mobile TV
TV on mobiles is being touted as the next big thing, with predictions that it will bring a new genre of programmes.

'Nearly two thirds' watch digital
Digital television is watched in nearly two thirds of UK homes, broadcast watchdog Ofcom finds.

BBC Two 'first to go broadband'
BBC Two could be the first terrestrial channel to appear on broadband, according to its controller.

Last digital push 'to cost £572m'
The last 10% of TV viewers to move to digital television will cost £572m to convert, says watchdog Ofcom.

BBC Two first to go fully digital
BBC Two will go digital-only before the other four main channels under the TV switchover plan.

Television faces up to the future
The digital revolution is presenting British TV with new challenges, says BBC media correspondent Torin Douglas

BBC to trial high-definition TV
The BBC is to begin trial broadcasts of high-definition TV next year, director of TV Jana Bennett confirms.

Digital radio use 'set to soar'
The number of UK homes with digital radio will rise 15 times by 2009, says a report by a leading broadcasters group.

Q&A: Internet Protocol TV
Internet Protocol TV is set to change the way we get and watch TVs, but what is it?

Ofcom suggests TV download plan
Broadcasters in the UK could have the right to distribute TV shows for downloading, Ofcom proposes.

TV licence fee to rise to £131.50
The television licence fee will rise by 4.2% to £131.50 from 1 April, the government announces.

Disney to widen online TV shows
Disney says it has sold more than 1.5 million episodes of TV shows such as Lost via online store iTunes.

Channel 4 buys new Freeview slot
Channel 4 purchases a new slot on the non-subscription digital terrestrial service Freeview.

BBC drops 'digital face' trails
A trailer for digital TV - which some viewers described as "horrific" - is dropped by the BBC.

Green light for new Five channel
Five secures a licence from regulator Ofcom as it gears up for the launch of its first digital television channel.

Peers slate government BBC plan
The BBC will stay vulnerable to political pressure despite government plans for its future, according to peers.

NTL seals Telewest takeover
Britain's biggest cable company NTL seals a deal to take over rival operator Telewest for $6bn.

How did broadcasting begin?
Broadcasting is something everyone takes for granted, with entertainment on tap at the flick of a button. But how did it all start?

The ups and downs of TV ratings
Television ratings can be a bit of a hot potato - official figures do not recognise huge totals which include more than one channel or repeats.

1950: TV hell or heaven?
It's 1950 and you fancy a night in front of the telly. What can you watch?

Moonwalks and Lennon's legacy
The era of television began in earnest after the war, when the new medium began to seriously erode radio and cinema audiences.

From royal dramas to wartime
The first daily radio service was launched in 1922 by the British Broadcasting Company (BBC) in London, heralding the beginning of an era.

Television's meteoric rise
Television has gone from being a luxury to a fixture in most people's living rooms. BBC News Online charts its growth since 1936.

A short history of the BBC
The British Broadcasting Company started life in 1922, with a staff of only four who were financed by a 10-shilling licence fee.

TV's world record breakers
Television provides a constant stream of information and entertainment for those who want it - and judging by the UK's 55 million TV sets, most of us do.

The rise and rise of the video
The video recorder is more than just a convenient gizmo - it has also reinvented how TV is broadcast.