Is This the End of the Television Age?

While American parents might complain that their children watch too much TV, the United Nations is celebrating World Television Day, which recognizes television's role in bringing global attention to conflicts and threats to peace as well as its potential to spotlight critical economic, social and health issues.

However, while the UN lauds TV, some experts believe the medium's best days are over.

TV is good for you

In March 1996, the United Nations General Assembly declared November 21 to be World Television Day. Television flickered to life in the 1920s. Over the second half of the 20th century, those flickering images strengthened and grew, until TV became the most widely used telecommunication medium for news and entertainment, reaching into every corner of the globe.

"Television doesn't require literacy and presents information in all visual forms, which doesn't require any specific skills for comprehension," says Janis Karklins, assistant director-general of UNESCO.

World Television Day, he says, celebrates the influence and impact of TV.

"This day allows people to underscore the power of TV communication, its role in sharpening the focus of many of the world's major challenges; would it be world economy, would it be cultural development, would it be good governance or freedom of expression," Karklins says. "We can also note the increased impact of television on all societies, but especially in the developing world where enabling environment for television emissions and television industry are under development."