Please note that the content of this book primarily consists of articles available from Wikipedia or other free sources online. A television series that is intended to be broadcast a finite number of episodes is usually called a miniseries or serial although the latter term also has other meanings. A short run lasting less than a year is known in the USA and Canada as a season and in the United Kingdom and the rest of the PAL-using countries as a series. This season or series usually consists of 15 26 installments in the USA, but in the UK there is no defined length. U.S. industry practice tends to favor longer seasons than those of some other countries. A single instance of a program is called an episode, although particularly in the USA this is sometimes also called a "show" or "program", and in Great Britain and Ireland a "programme". A one-off broadcast may, again particularly in the USA and USA-influenced countries, be called a "special", or particularly in the UK a "specialepisode". A television movie or in the UK a television film ("made-for-TV" movie) is a film that is initially broadcast on television rather than being released in cinemas or direct-to-video, although many successful television movies are later released on DVD.