Is there much British telly on in America?

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Those 5 channels are referred to here as the 'terrestrial tv channels'

The BBC is paid for by a tv license, which you must have if you own a tv (£150 a year - some people qualify for reduced fee). The other channels are technically free, but to watch them you need a tv, and having a tv incurs a license fee.

So while we call them 'free', we just mean that you don't pay for an additional satellite subscription, you just use an aerial. It's quite common here for people to not have any further satellite subscriptions and just have those 5 channels. They cater for everything really, they all show news, entertainment, documentaries, sport, soaps etc. Most of the TV programmes you would hear people talking about having watched here in the UK would be on one of them.

I have a satellite subscription as my wife likes watching the latest films (those 5 terrestrial channels don't do any new films) and I like watching live sport, mostly football, which the satellite channels pay billions of £££ for the rights to show)

Good info to have. Glad this is a two-way thread.

In the USA, the terms terrestrial television (and terrestrial radio) are occasionally used, though broadcast TV or over-the-air are the more common terms. These require no license or fees to watch, just an antenna or aerial.

Subscription television is either known as cable (a literal wire that comes into the home) or satellite (a satellite dish). These paid services provide additional channels, some of which may broadcast British shows on occasion.

Wasn't there something in the UK called...Sky (?) that was akin to American cable television, as in you paid for more channels? I don't think it was satellite, but I might be mistaken.

Anyway, how many American television shows are aired on the 5 British terrestrial networks?

... why are you using the British spelling of humour?

appreciate the detailed response

With regards to your 2nd paragraph there are 5 free to air broadcast channels in the UK - BBC1, BBC2, ITV, Channel 4 & Channel 5.

There are actually more than 5 free to air broadcast channels in the UK. All the above have several other channels under their branding such as BBC Four, ITV2, Film4 and 5Star. You also have numerous other channels for general entertainment, films and lifestyle that are also available through the Freeview service.

I didn't have though down as 'terrestrial' channels which can be picked up by just an arial. Happy to be corrected though.

BritBox!