World Television Day
Next: November 21, 2026
Save me a seat on the sofa.
The story
Where it comes from
The UN General Assembly proclaimed 21 November World Television Day in December 1996. The date recalls the first UN World Television Forum, held on 21 and 22 November that year, where leading media figures met to discuss television's growing significance. The Assembly recognised television's power to draw the world's attention to conflict and to economic and social issues. The UN says the day celebrates less the tool than what it represents: communication in a connected world.
How it's celebrated
There is no single way to keep it. The UN uses the day to talk about television's place in news and public life, now that people watch on every kind of screen. At home it is a good excuse to watch something together and talk about it afterwards, or to look up the first programme ever broadcast where you live.
Did you know
- John Logie Baird gave the first demonstration of television in Soho, London, on 26 January 1926; his early apparatus used a disc cut from a hat box.
- Singapore's television began on 15 February 1963, when Minister for Culture S. Rajaratnam became the first person to appear on screen.
- Television Malaysia went on air on 28 December 1963 and broadcast only in black and white for its first few years.
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