(I) In its earlier days, people treated the experience of
watching television rather like that of the cinema, but in
many ways, television is nothing like cinema. (II) While
film is designed to be a public event and its
characteristic mode is a complete performance,
television is a procession of segments arranged as a
series and watched privately or domestically.
(III) Communal watching of programmes provides
opportunities for displays of family warmth and affection,
so television watching may promote strong emotional
connections among families and friends. (IV) Contrary
to the intense quality of film that receives sustained
attention from the audience, television watching is more
casual and episodic. (V) Another obvious distinction is
that films typically start with a disordered narrative and
move through a series of ups and downs to a resolution,
but television presents itself as a set of repeated
segments which do not always form a unity of any kind.