I remember moving to the UK and had to settle for four channels! BBC1 and BBC2 with no commercials and two independent channels. While my children got weaned from TV, I got hooked on BBC programmes and documentaries. It was not until very recently that cable, satellite and freeview came to join the main four.

As we pay a TV licence to own a television here, the programmes are as diverse in content as the population it serves to entertain, inform and educate. Some productions by the independent channels come often on a "hit and miss" but the BBC, for one, have great productions and many are masterpieces. I encourage my grandchildren to watch children's shows put out by the BBC because of the tremendous care and study it invests towards education of the young, especially pre-schoolers. My granddaughter is learning British Sign Language from one of its early morning children's shows. And yes, we have a TV set in all the rooms except for the bathroom.