grammaticality - Definite article — “on television” vs. “on the radio”


Why are these different?




  • We heard the news on the radio.

  • We watched the news on television.



In this book, the author says we must use television without the. Why? It makes me crazy. Is there a valid reason?



Answer



These are my assumptions based on the the Longman Dictionary entry for 'television'and the examples cited there. According to this entry,


The word television can refer to a) the equipment as well as b) the programmes broadcast on television.


From the examples cites there, I understand that we use the definite article when we are referring to the device.



Lucy turned on the television to watch the evening news.



On the other hand, it looks like we can omit the definite article if we are referring to the programmes.



In the evenings I like to relax and watch television.



The third entry on the dictionary is:


on (the) television:broadcast or being broadcast on television:



What's on (the) television tonight?



Probably, in this type of usage with the preposition, it is fine to omit or use the definite article.


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