There's nothing 'on television' right now. [=there are no programs that I would like to watch now]
I recognize your face. Are you 'on television'? [=do you appear in a television program?]
What is 'on the television' [='on TV', ('chiefly Brit') 'on (the) telly'] tonight?
(..) l don't want to play butch boss with you people... but when l took over this department... it had the worst programming record in television history. This network hasn't one show in the top . This network is an industry joke. We better start putting together one winner for next September. (..)1976 Network
(..) the " Network News" anchorman on UBS TV. ln his time, Howard Beale had been a mandarin of television... the grand old man of news... with a HUT rating of and a audience share. ln , however, his fortunes began to decline. (..)1976 Network