Discussion Forum—A Way with Words, a fun radio show and podcast about language

Warning: Unfounded speculation follows. I'm not sure how much is donut and how much is hole.

It looks like we tend to use "on" for media and "in" for the content conveyed by the media:
"On TV"
"On stage"
"On the radio"
"On the silver/big screen"
"On the CD"
"On the DVD"
"On the web/webpage"

"In the movie"
"In the story"
"In the skit"
"In the play"
"In the program"

Except that printed media doesn't appear to follow this:
"In a book"
"In the paper"
"In print"

I have no idea if this is correct, but I bet that "on the movies" sounds too much like "on the move". So people chose "in the movies" to avoid confusion. Also, "in the movies" hints at a large industry, like "He's in insurance". But while TV is an industry, it's also right in our living rooms. Whatever is broadcast over the airways is "on TV." "In TV" does mean that a person works in the TV industry, while saying, "in TV" to mean "what's on the TV screen" would probably lead people to think someone was inside the TV. But they're not -- they're merely on it.

Glenn said:

It is probably wisest to consider them a matter of convention, rather than rationally determined. "Reasons" for selecting one preposition over another can serve as a mnemonic for those struggling to acquire language, but such explanations rarely stand up to careful scrutiny.

I think that's the best answer. There may have been some reason for the first use of "in" and "on" in these cases, but everything after that is just blindly following a precedent.

One of my favorite silly jokes is set up when someone calls me and immediately informs me they are calling on their cell phone. I usually reply something like "I'm honored you would use your one phone call on me." or "Do they have phones in every cell, or do you have to share, like the showers?" or " Did the guard lend you the quarter?"

I prefer (but lament) the change to "mobile phone."