A television presenter is a person who introduces or hosts television programmes. Nowadays it is common for minor celebrities in other fields to take on this role, but there are also a number of people who have made their name solely within the field of presenting, particularly within children's television series to become a television personality.
Some presenters may double as an actor, model, singer, comedian etc. Others may be subject matter experts, such as scientists or politicians, serving as presenters for a programme about their field of expertise (for instance, David Attenborough). some are celebrities who have made their name in one area, then leverage their fame to get involved in other areas. Examples of this latter group include British comedian Michael Palin who now presents programmes about travel (such as Around the World in 80 Days), and Alan Alda, who has presented Scientific American Frontiers for over a decade.
The term is also used in other countries, such as Ireland. In the USA, such a person is typically called a host or an MC (Master of Ceremonies).
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Famous quotes containing the words television and/or presenter:
“So by all means let’s have a television show quick and long, even if the commercial has to be delivered by a man in a white coat with a stethoscope hanging around his neck, selling ergot pills. After all the public is entitled to what it wants, isn’t it? The Romans knew that and even they lasted four hundred years after they started to putrefy.”
—Raymond Chandler (1888–1959)
“It is more than likely that the brain itself is, in origin and development, only a sort of great clot of genital fluid held in suspense or reserved.... This hypothesis ... would explain the enormous content of the brain as a maker or presenter of images.”
—Ezra Pound (1885–1972)