Objective To study the literatures on diabetes intervention by television, and investigate the effects and trend of modern media on diabetes intervention. Methods PubMed, Engineering Village, Chinese Biological and Medical Database and China National Knowledge Infrastructure were retrieved. The literatures mainly concerned with the effects of television on selfmanagement of diabetes in China and foreign countries, and digital television, interactive television, cable television and closed circuit television were involved. Results Based on the inclusion criteria and exclusion criteria, preliminarily 131 literatures were recruited, and finally 12 literatures were subject to analysis. From 1966 to 2012, the application of television in the prevention of diabetes developed from health knowledge dissemination to interactive health behavior intervention, which became available for assessment. Conclusion Interactive television and telemedicine education may play an important role in the prevention of chronic diseases in future.