DOORDARSHAN Its Relevance in todays Satellite TV Age Can you imagine a world without television?

? No serials, news channels or cricket matches. Will it not be a boring world? Today television has become an integral part of our lives. Your brother might get angry if disturbed while he is watching his favourite television programme. However, television is a recent invention. Very few homes had television sets some fifty years ago. Also, till the 1990s Doordarshan was the only channel available to a vast majority of Indians. EVOLUTION OF TELEVISION: Isnt it wonderful that a newsreader who is hundreds of kilometers away in a news studio can be seen and heard by just switching on your television set? However, television is a recent invention.Ask your grandfather whether he had watched television in his childhood. Most probably he would have had a radio set at home but not a television. Radio, print and cinema were already there before the arrival of television. The idea of television existed long before the actual invention of television. Several inventors were working on the creation of a technology which could transmit sound as well as visuals. Though many pioneers have contributed to make it possible, John Baird is generally regarded as the father of television. British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) of Britain began the first television service in 1936. If you have a satellite or cable connection, you will be able to watch BBC, the worlds oldest television broadcaster. By 1939, television broadcasts began in the United States also. These two countries were clearly ahead in the race. Other countries began television broadcasting on a wide scale only by the 1950s. Though the second World War slowed down the rapid development of the new medium, the post war years made up for it. We have seen how television came into existence. However, early television viewing was not like what we see on a television set today. It was quite primitive. The limitations of the early camera forced the actors and anchors to work with impossibly hot lights. Imagine trying to read news with full make up under a blazing light.

The early television broadcasts were all black and white. The first successful programme in colour was transmitted by Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) in USA in 1953. The television set became one of the important mediums of entertainment with the advent of several popular shows. Television gradually matured as a medium during the next two decades. From being radio with pictures it acquired a unique style of its own. As a result of this, this phase is often called it The golden age of Televion TELEVISION IN INDIA : Did you know that television broadcasts started in India under All India Radio (AIR)? Television began in India on 15th September 1959 as an experiment. There were only two one-hour programmes a week, each of one hour duration. Imagine a television set working for only two hours a week. Can you think of such a situation today? But, that was the case in the early years of television. All India Radio handled the initial broadcasts. The early programmes on these experimental broadcasts were generally educational programmes for school children and farmers. Several community television sets were set up in Delhis rural areas and schools around Delhi for the dissemination of these programmes. By the 1970s, television centers were opened in other parts of the country also. In 1976, Doordarshan, which was All India Radios television arm until then became a separate department. Several community television sets were distributed as a part of one of the important landmarks in the history of Indian television, the Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE). It was conducted between August 1975 and July 1976. Under this programme, the Indian government used the American satellite ATS-6 to broadcast educational programmes to Indian villages. Six states were selected for this experiment and television sets were distributed in these states. The programmes were mainly produced by Doordarshan which was then a part of AIR. The telecasts happened twice a day, in the morning and evening. Other than agricultural information, health and family planning were the other important topics dealt with in these programmes. Entertainment was also included in these telecasts in the form of dance, music, drama, folk and rural art forms.

A major milestone in the history of Indian television was the coverage of the Ninth Asian Games in 1982. Doordarshan provided national coverage for the first time through the satellite INSAT 1A. Also, for the first time, the transmission was in colour. In addition to the domestic transmission, Doordarshan was also providing content for the broadcasters of many other countries. After 1982,there was a huge increase in the live coverage of sports by Doordarshan. By 1983, government sanctioned a huge expansion of Doordarshan. Several new transmitters were set up throughout the country. Thus towards the end of 80s around 75 per cent of the population could be covered by the transmitters. Many of the programmes of Doordarshan like Hum Log, Buniyaad and Nukkad were immensely popular. Have you seen any of these serials ? In 1997, Prasar Bharati, a statutory autonomous body was established. Doordarshan along with AIR was converted into government corporations under Prasar Bharati. The Prasar Bharati Corporation was established to serve as the public service broadcaster of the country which would achieve its objectives through AIR and DD. This was a step towards greater autonomy for Doordarshan and AIR. However, Prasar Bharati has not succeeded in shielding Doordarshan from Government control. ADVENT OF PRIVATE CHANNEL So you have seen how Doordarshan has evolved over the years. But today we have many channels other than Doordarshan. You may have heard the term satellite channels. Generally satellites are used for communication or research purposes. Man made satellites are objects which are launched to orbit the earth or any other celestial body. Let us see how satellites help in bringing your favourite television channels to your homes.

What is the relationship between a satellite and a serial that you see in the cable network? They might seem completely unrelated. But, communication satellites are instrumental in bringing the serial to your home. Have you ever owned a television set with an antenna which had to be positioned exactly to catch the signal? A heavy rain or rough weather can disrupt your television viewing in such a case. The introduction of communication satellites has improved the situation greatly. How many channels can you watch on your television set? Star TV, Aaj Tak, NDTV, Zee etc are a few of the many television channels available to us today. Ask your mother if she had such a wide choice of channels in her childhood. The answer will be no. This is because these private channels came into the Indian Television scene quite recently.

In the earlier days, Doordarshan had a monopoly as it was the only channel available to the Indian television audience. This changed in the 1990s with the arrival of private channels. The coverage of the Gulf War by the American news channel, Cable News Network (CNN) propelled the arrival of satellite television in India. Satellite dishes were used to catch the CNN signals and cable operators took to satellite broadcasting immediately. Hong Kong based STAR (Satellite Television Asian Region) entered into an agreement with an Indian company and Zee TV was born. It became the first privately owned Hindi satellite channel of India. The agreement between STAR and Zee did not last long. But the Indian television audience was waiting for a shift from the monopoly of Doordarshan and soon a number of private channels emerged. The Supreme Court ruling of 1995 which stated that the airwaves are not the monopoly of the Indian government boosted their growth. Several regional channels also came into being during this period. Sun TV

(Tamil), Asianet (Malayalam) and Eenadu TV were a few of them. Today almost all major Indian languages have television channels in them. Apart from the regional channels, a host of international channels like CNN, BBC and Discovery are also available to the Indian television audience. With different categories of channels like 24 hour news channels, religious channels, cartoon channels and movie channels, there is something for everyone to watch.

SATELLITE TV V/S DOORDARSHAN The SWOT analyses involves study of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats of an organisation. SWOT factors that are evidently available to the Doordarshan are as follows: S Strength More than 1000 transmitters. Covering 90% of population across 70 million homes against only 30 million home by C & S. More than 20,000 employees. As against this the biggest Cable and Satellite Network ( C & S) Star network which has the largest reach in the private C & S has only 350 transmitters. The 80s were noted for Hum Log (1984), Buniyaad (198687) and comedy shows like Yeh Jo Hai Zindagi (1984). Hum Log, Buniyaad, and Nukkad along with mythological dramas such as Ramayan (198788) and Mahabharat (198990), Shaktimaan, India's First Superhero, glued millions to Doordarshan as did shows such as Bharat Ek Khoj, The Sword of Tipu Sultan and The Great Maratha. Hindi film songs based programs like Chitrahaar, Rangoli, Ek Se Badkar Ek and Superhit Muquabla. Compared to these programmes the C & S Network does not have any original and creative programme for the Indian audience but are a remake of foreign programmes which are popular abroad. W Weakness

Rigid pricing strategy. Low credibility with certain sections of society. Doordarshan is considered down market and hence many people do not like to watch it even though some of the programme have good content. O Opportunities Infrastructure can be leased out to cable and satellite channel. Digital terrestrial transmission. Regional focused channels. Allotment of time, slots to other broadcasters. T Threats Desertion of advertisers and producers may result in loss of revenues. Due to quality of program the reach of C & S network is continuously expanding. As the C & S network need the trained staff, some employees of DD may switchover and take new jobs. Best of the market-technology is being used by the private channels. It is suggested that the DD should adopt a middle path. It should have a mix of both the options. It is suggested that the DD should adopt a middle path. It should have a mix of both the options. It should economise on its operational aspects and ensure more productivity in term of revenue generation and optimisation of use of its infrastructure. Wherever, the capacities are under utilized these may be leased out to the private operations. At the same time quality and viewership of programmes should be improved. Bureaucracy may reduce new strategic initiatives or make the organisation less transparent.

Complete privatisation can fetch a good sum and may solve many of the managerial and operational problems. However, complete public monopoly is not advisable because that denies the government to fully exploit the avenue for social and public use. The government will also lose out as it will not be able to take advantage of rising potential of the broadcasting industry particularly for educational and social awareness generation programmes.

Despite the rapid growth of television channels from 1991 to 1996, television programming continues to be dominated by the Indian film industry. Hindi films are the staple of most national channels and regional channels rely heavily on a mix of Hindi and regional language films to attract audiences. Almost all Indian films are musicals and this allows for the development of inexpensive derivative programs. One of Doordarshan's most popular programs, Chitrahaar, is a compilation of old film songs and all the private channels, including ZeeTV and music video channels like MTV Asia and Channel V, show some variation of Chitrahaar. A number of game shows are also based on movie themes. Other genres like soap operas, talk shows and situation comedies are also gaining in popularity, but the production of these programs has been unable to keep up with demand, hence the continuing reliance on film based programming. International satellite programming has opened up competition in news and public affairs programming with BBC and CNN International challenging Doordarshan's long standing monopoly. Most of the other foreign broadcasters, for example, ESPN and the Discovery Channel, are focusing on special interest programming. Only StarTV's STAR Plus channel offers broad-based English language entertainment programs.

Most of its programs are syndicated U.S. shows, for example soap operas like The Bold and the Beautiful and Santa Barbara and talk shows like Donahue and Oprah. However, STAR Plus has a very small share of the audience in India and even this is threatened by the launch of new channels. A peculiar development in television programming in India has been the use of hybrid English-Hindi program formats, popularly called "Hinglish" formats, which offer programs in Hindi and English on the same channel and even have programs, including news shows, that use both languages within a single telecast.

This takes advantage of the of the audience for television (especially the audience for satellite television) which is largely composed of middle class Indians who have some knowledge of English along with Hindi and colloquially speak a language that is primarily Hindi intermixed with words, phrases and whole sentences in English. Commercial competition has transformed Doordarshan as well and it is scrambling to cope with the changed competitive environment.

Satellite broadcasting has threatened Doordarshan's audiences and self-preservation has spawned a new ideology in the network which is in the process of reinventing itself, co-opting private programmers to recapture viewers and advertising rupees lost to ZeeTV and StarTV.

In 1994, the government ordered Doordarshan to raise its own revenues for future expansion. This new commercial mandate has gradually begun to change Doordarshan's perception of who are its primary constituents--from politicians to advertisers. The government's monopoly over television over the years has resulted in Doordarshan being tightly controlled by successive governments. In principle, Doordarshan is answerable only to Parliament. Parliament lays down the guidelines that Doordarshan is expected to adhere to in its programming and Doordarshan's budget is debated and approved by Parliament.

But the guidelines established by Parliament to ensure Doordarshan's political neutrality are largely ignored in the face of the majority that ruling parties have held in Parliament. Doordarshan has been subject more to the will of the government than the oversight of Parliament. Successive governments and ruling political parties have used Doordarshan to further their political agendas, weakening its credibility as an neutral participant in the political process. There have been periodic attempts to reconstitute Doordarshan into a BBC-like public corporation, but governments have been reluctant to relinquish their hold on such a powerful medium. The government drew its right to operate the country's broadcasting services as a monopoly from the Indian Telegraph Act of 1885 which empowers the government with the exclusive right to "establish, maintain and work" wireless services.

In addition, the Constitution lists broadcasting as the sole domain of Parliament, effectively shutting out the states from making any laws with regard to television. Within the ambit of these provision it was assumed that media autonomy or liberalization in any form was the prerogative of the government to grant. But the government's monopoly was challenged in the Indian Supreme Court in 1995.

The Court held that the government monopoly over broadcasting was unconstitutional and while the government has the right to regulate broadcasting in the public interest, the Constitution forbids monopoly control over any medium by either individuals or the government.

The Court directed the government to establish an independent public authority for "controlling and regulating" the use of airwaves. The Court's decision holds out the promise of significant structural changes in Indian broadcasting and the possibility that terrestrial television may finally free itself from governmental control. It is evident that over time the State's control over television will continue to diminish. As its revenue structure begins to change and Doordarshan begins to respond to increasing commercial pressures, the character of its programming will begin to increasingly reflect the demands and pressures of the market place.

In the meantime, caught between the government and the market, Doordarshan continues to struggle to maintain its mandate of public service programming. But the Supreme Court's recent decision ordering the government to establish an independent broadcasting authority to regulate television in the public interest holds the promise of allowing Indian television to escape both the stifling political control of the state and the commercial pressures of the market. There are a number of other constituencies like state governments, educational institutions, non-governmental organizations and social service agencies who can participate in a liberalized broadcast system. The Supreme Court has provided an opportunity to develop a broad based television system. How the country responds to this opportunity in the next few years will determine the future of broadcasting in India in the next century.

FUTURE OF BROADCASTING IN INDIA The Indian television system is one of the most extensive systems in the world. Terrestrial broadcasting, which has been the sole preserve of the government, provides television coverage to over 90% of India's 900 million people. By the end of 1996 nearly 50 million households

had television sets. International satellite broadcasting, introduced in 1991, has swept across the country because of the rapid proliferation of small scale cable systems. By the end of 1996, Indians could view dozens of foreign and local channels and the competition for audiences and advertising revenues was one of the hottest in the world. In 1995, the Indian Supreme Court held that the government's monopoly over broadcasting was unconstitutional, setting the stage for India to develop into one of the world's largest and most competitive television environments. For several years Doordarshan was the only broadcaster of television programmes in India. After the opening of the sector to the private entrepreneur (cable and satellite channels), the market has witnessed major changes. The number of channels have increased and also the quality of programmes, backed by technology, has improved. In terms of quality of programmers, opportunity to advertise, outreach activities, the broadcasting has become a popular business. Broadcasters too have realised the great business potential in the market. But for this, policies need to be rationalised and be opened to the scope of innovativeness not only in term of quality of programmes. This would not come by simply going to more areas or by allowing bureaucratic set up to continue in the organization. Strategically the DD needs to undergo a policy overhaul. DD, out of three options, namely privatisation, public service broadcaster or a middle path, can choose the third one, i.e. a combination of both. The whole privatisation is not possible under the diversified political scenario. Nor it would be desirable to hand over the broadcasting emotively in the private hand as it proves to be a great means of communication of many socially oriented public programmers. The government could also think in term of creating a corporation (as it did by creating Prasar Bharti) and provide reasonable autonomy to DD. So far as its advertisement tariff is concerned that can be made fairly competitive. However, at the same time cost of advertising is to be compared with the reach enjoyed by the doordarshan. The number of viewers may be far more to justify higher tariffs. MORE than any dispute over private producers, the Channel 3 delay has decided one thing that it is time for Doordarshan to determine its identity. For far too long the public broadcasting service has taken one step forward and two steps back. In the absence of a clearlydefined broadcasting policy, with the Prasar Bharati Bill apparently

forever relegated to remote corners of the Cabinet's filing cabinets, Doordarshan's autonomy has never been weaker. Much of the fault lies in the functioning of Doordarshan itself. Never one to formulate policy before actually taking decisions, it finds itself wrong-footed on this count just because the Government chooses to exercise its considerable will. In being all things to all people, Doordarshan has kept neither its viewers nor its minders happy. Should government money be spent by a government organization to spread the message of MTV or design a channel to be watched 'not by everyone'? Should Dordarshan behave like the media empire that it is and look outside for specialised talent in the fields of advertising and PR ? Should Doordarshan allow private producers to cover news and pronounce opinions when it has a full-fledged (but also fully-stretched) news bureau? Should Doordarshan advertise when it decides to allot programmes to private producers? The questions are endless. But the prime concern should be to evolve a new framework for Doordarshan. Merril Lynch has acknowledged the prime importance of satellite TV in changing consumption patterns and social behaviour in India. Given afso that the giant television networks that operate like food plazas that is, give something to everyone may become increasingly difficult to sustain internally and internationally. The British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) and Doordarshan are public service broadcasters which have to serve wide and varied interests of domestic customers. It is a public service like electricity, water and transport. Though its World Service Radio (which serves 130 million people worldwide) is financed by a grant-in-aidfrom the government, Wotto Service TV has to be commercially viable.

Already, there is government pressure on BBC to increase its 1.6 billion annual income from licence fees through commercial ventures. Doordarshan is already earning upwards of Rs 400 crore a year as revenue which goes to the Government. Apart from financial

management what it needs more is autonomy to be creative and deliver what is its slogan Satyam, Shivam , Sundaram. Truth, is Beauty and Beauty is Truth.