Live
- Woman’s False Claim Sparks Unnecessary Panic
- Locals Report Naxal Activity in Karkala Village
- Mangaluru International Airport Sets New Records in Passenger and Flight Movements
- Where Areca failed, grow Coffee
- Collector Badavath Santosh Reviews Household Survey and Listing Process
- Awareness Session on SHE Team and POCSO Act
- Awareness Program in agricultural College on the Dangers of Drug Abuse for Youth
- 3500-Year-Old Menhir in Kamsanpally Village: A Call for Preservation
- The Role of Artificial Intelligence in Radiology: Transforming Diagnosis and Patient Care
- Hindustan Zinc Ltd. Signs MoU with Rajasthan Government to Invest Rs 36 Crores in Education Development
Doordarshan turns 65: A rich history of India’s state broadcast service
State-owned public television broadcaster, Doordarshan completed 65 years on Sunday
Mumbai: State-owned public television broadcaster, Doordarshan completed 65 years on Sunday. The channel, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, is one of Prasar Bharati’s two divisions. It was established on September 15, 1959.
The channel used to be the one-stop destination for a large chunk of the population with regard to entertainment and knowledge. It became a national broadcaster in 1982.
Doordarshan operates 46 studios and 33 television channels, including the two pan-India channels (DD National and DD News). It also has 17 regional satellite channels, 11 state networks, an international channel (DD India), a sports channel (DD Sports), DD Bharati, DD Urdu as the cultural and informative channels and an agricultural channel.
It has also been the network that broadcasts the Indian epics ‘Mahabharat’ and ‘Ramayan’ which gained a significant fan following and continue to be one of the most loved shows showcasing the mythology of India. The broadcaster reached its peak in the 1980s owing to the success of ‘Mahabharat’ and ‘Ramayan’. However, with the Indian economy opening up with the new economic policy of 1991 with the exposure to the global market, many private channels entered in India airing fiction and non-fiction shows with mostly urban settings. These shows carrying the aspirations of big cities also appealed to the people in small towns and tier 2 or tier 3 cities.
Soon, Doordarshan’s popularity started plummeting. This was further accentuated by the rising popularity of news channels which would present news in an entertaining way building on sensationalism which took people’s attention away from Doordarshan’s straightforward way of presenting the news without any colour.
