I think Laurence and jojo's answers are good. I'd like to add some more information: it's a regular phenomenon that a bisyllabic word is often formal, literary (and often more accurate) than its corresponding monosyllabic one. 收听 vs 听，收看 vs 看，观看 vs 看，观赏 vs 看（/赏），观察 vs 看 1. why the bisyllabic word is more formal？ Because Chinese in writing or formal style requires a lot more in rythm and symmetry than in spoken style. Two-syllable is the basic prosodic unit in writing Chinese. Many words used in writing have their matches in the spoken language. Very often it's the case that the formmer is bisyllabic and the latter monosyllabic. 2. why the word used in writing is more accurate? As shown above, the bisyllables contains another element, or morpheme than the monosyllable, which gives more information and limitation to the meaning of the bisyllables. Lacking of the abundant and specific context for conversations, writing language has to be more definite and accurate so as not to make confusion.

收看电视，收听广播，因为都是经过无线电波传播的，所以用词上加上“收”字。电影就不用“收看电影”。现在的电视主持人也不用“请继续收看”了，改成说“请继续关注本台其他节目”了。

“看” 比较口语化，“收看” 比较书面化。

literally they carry same meaning.But 收看 is more formal and 收看 only refers to receive TV channel, while 看 is more colloquial， and in Chinese， 看 can describe every action you use eyes ，such as look， view，see，watch. and 收看 has two syllable， which is more graceful and formal in this sentence 请继续收看。看has only one syllable， it sounds wired if a narrator says 请继续看。but in daily conversations， it is okay to say 继续看，no one will say 继续收看 to friends or parents.

Hi Justin, When people present programmes in Chinese, they should speak in a slightly more formal manner, it's just how things work here in China. 收看 is a more formal way of saying 看, just like 收聽 is a more formal way of saying 聽. They presenter will favour the two character word, while normal people will just use the one character word when chatting. There is no real difference in the meaning between the two. Laurence