11 - Chapter 7

7.
Programming Strategies of Doordarshan: 1984-2009
This chapter presents a detailed discussion of the second objective of the study:
• To identify and examine the programming strategies of Doordarshan and
changes in them, if any, during the study period.
Public broadcasting seeks to provide programmes which cater to the many different
tastes and interests which constitutes a society’s life. The public broadcasting
community understands that each of us, at different moments, is part of a majority and
a minority. ‘In seeking to provide programmes for a wide range of tastes and interests,
public broadcasting seeks to ensure that it is done with real quality’ (Tracey, 1998,
p.26361).
The dilemma of programme quality and popular reach continues to be central for
public broadcasters. It has also been debated in recent times as to whether a public
broadcaster should narrow its focus on niche programming or continue to meet the
diverse needs of all audience members. Most scholars continue to repose faith on
remaining a ‘full portfolio’ content provider as it is believed that the market is not
well equipped to deliver the social and cultural value of public broadcasting to the
entire population (Bardoel & d'Haenens, 2008362).
It seems, on the one hand, inevitable that in an ever fuller broadcasting environment
there will be further specialization, but on the other hand a concentration of
programming on minority interests is likely to threaten the focus and funding of a
broadly appealing public broadcaster (ibid). It has been suggested by many scholars
that public service broadcasting cannot succeed unless it is popular. It should not be
consigned to a ghetto at the margin of the market, providing content that no other
commercial player is interested in doing.
361
Tracey, Michael (1998). The Decline and fall of Public Service Broadcasting.Oxford
University Press.
362
Bardoel, Johannes & d'Haenens, Leen (2008).Reinventing public service broadcasting in
Europe: prospects, promises and problems.Media Culture & Society, Vol. 30(3), 337–355.
142
The principle of serving diverse interests of the public is the basis then for making
programmes which serve the young as well as the elderly, those interested in local as
well as national affairs, members of diverse sub-cultures as well as those in the
mainstream. It is an important element of this principle that 'public broadcasting
serves not only tastes and interests which are readily apparent, but also those which
are dormant and latent' (Tracey, 1998363, p.27).
World Radio and Television Council (WRTVC, 2001)364 identifies the following key
principles of programming for public broadcasting:
• Provide unbiased, enlightening information
• Provide general interest as well as niche programming
• Make programmes that leave their mark
• In-house production
• National content
A McKinsey study on ‘Public service broadcasters around the world’ (1999) found
that public broadcasters are constantly seeking to find the right balance between
audience share and distinctiveness. While commercial broadcasters have the relatively
straightforward task of cost-effectively capturing share in the most attractive
segments, public broadcasters have a different challenge. They must have a distinctive
mix of programming (McKinsey, 1999).
The McKinsey survey found that the most effective PSBs365 are those which manage
to combine share and distinctiveness, such as ARD366 and ZDF367 in Germany, SVT368
in Sweden, and the BBC in the UK. They have succeeded in the difficult task of
striking an appropriate balance between share and distinctiveness. In contrast PSBs
which have concerned themselves only with distinctiveness such as the PBS369 in
363
Tracey, Michael (1998). The decline and fall of Public Service Broadcasting.Oxford
University Press.
364
WRTVC (2001).Public Broadcasting. Why? How? Paris: UNESCO.
365
Public Service Broadcasters
366
ARD - A joint organization of Germany’s regional public service broadcasters
367
Zweites Deutsches Fernsehen – A German public service broadcaster
368
Sveriges Television – Swedish public service television
369
Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) is USA’s public broadcaster
143
USA have minimal role to play in their respective broadcasting markets. On the other
hand, those public service broadcasters which have single-mindedly focussed on
achieving market share over distinctiveness have made themselves more mainstream.
In such cases, they invite calls for privatisation - there being little to distinguish such
broadcasters from commercial competitors.
The principles discussed above appear to be recognised worldwide as the doctrine on

which public service broadcasting rests. In this chapter, the researcher has made an
attempt to document, examine, and analyse Doordarshan’s programming strategies
over the years keeping in mind established norms of public service programming. The
analysis is divided into two parts – one focussed on news and the other on general
interest programming.
7.1 News on Doordarshan
News bulletins were telecast for the first time in Hindi in 1965. Regular news
bulletins in English started in 1971. News in its early days on television consisted of
mere reading out of information given by the Press Information Bureau. Doordarshan
did not have its own reporters in the beginning; hence news was devoid of visuals
from the field370. This practice continued for a long time.
Describing the early days in Doordarshan with regard to news, former Doordarshan
Director General, Shiv Sharma371 observed: “News started in 1965 after we received
film cameras. The recording machines and editing machines were very expensive; the
government could not afford it. So we got 16mm cameras. News initially ran for ten
minutes.” Earlier, the Films Division used to make a newsreel which was shown in
cinema halls but not on television.
It was only in the 1980s that some experiments began to be undertaken in news.
Though television had become a nationwide phenomenon by the 1980s, tight control
370
As told by Indira Mansingh, former News Head, Doordarshan, during personal interview
371
Personal interview with Shiv Sharma, Former DG, Doordarshan
144
over news remained (Mehta, 2008, p.46)372. The news genre opened up only for a
brief period when Rajiv Gandhi was the Prime Minister (Ghose, 2005373; Mehta,
2008, Ninan, 1995374).
Rajiv Gandhi felt that the electronic media set-up needed an overhauling. He hired
new staff, took personal interest in appointing the supervisory staff such as the
Director-General and decided to grant some form of operational independence to their
function. Bhaskar Ghose, the man picked by the Prime Minister was given the go-
ahead to professionalize Doordarshan. Rajiv Gandhi wanted to turn Doordarshan into
a powerful but credible medium. This exercise was dubbed as Operation Credibility
by the press (Ninan, 1995)375.
Reflecting on those days, Indira Mansingh376, former Head, Doordarshan News, said:
“Rajiv Gandhi was completely modern in his use of technology. He brought Bhaskar
Ghose who was a very progressive Director-General.” He started the exercise of
hiring professional reporters for the news division.
The newsrooms in Doordarshan were and are still managed by officers from the
Indian Information Service (IIS). These people were recruited primarily through the
Union Public Service Commission, and were government officers. They were sent to
Doordarshan on deputation and manned the posts of editors at different levels,
sometimes even of correspondents (Ghose, 2005)377.
Ghose as DG embarked upon the task of recruiting new people for the news division
who had some background of journalism. They were to be trained later as television
journalists. Other initiatives included giving the newly appointed reporters functional
372
Mehta, Nalin (2008). India on Television: How Satellite News Channels have changed the
way we think and act? New Delhi: Harper Collins
373
Ghose, Bhaskar (2005). Doordarshan Days. New Delhi: Penguin Books.
374
Ninan, S. (1995).Through the Magic Window: Television and Change in India. New Delhi:
Penguin.
375
Penguin.
376
Personal interview with respondent
377
145
autonomy, commissioning independent current affairs programmes, and introducing
new equipment for news coverage (Ghose, 2005; Mehta, 2008)378.
Indira Mansingh379 believes that news in those days had made significant
improvement on Doordarshan. She noted: “The reporters really trusted him (Bhaskar
Ghose) because he had brought them. They worked really hard. And the quality of DD
News certainly improved during those days. There was Bhaskar who was very
involved; the Prime Minister’s Office was not so worried about being criticized. It
was a much more open set-up, and there was a lot of talent which had come into
Doordarshan. So things had really improved.”
The new scheme envisaged hiring a dedicated team of professional journalists from
outside the restricted government pool. Much of this, however, couldn’t be
implemented. The open media policy soon became extremely unpopular with
members of the ruling party as they felt that they were being portrayed in poor light.
The end of the open media policy and operation credibility came about when the
ruling party came under attack for the Bofors defence pay-off scam (Mehta, 2008)380.
As elections were approaching, the policy of giving operational freedom to
Doordarshan was abandoned by 1988 (Ninan, 1995)381.
The fresh air of freedom inducted was short-lived; nevertheless, this period was a
trendsetter for the news genre in the days to come. Some of the experiments in news
that Doordarshan undertook during this period (late 1980s and early 1990s) are
discussed below in detail.
• The World this Week – There was an unwritten policy in Doordarshan that
domestic news was not to be given to private producers. Prannoy Roy and Radhika
378
Ibid; Mehta, Nalin (2008).India on Television: How Satellite News Channels have changed
the way we think and act? New Delhi: Harper Collins
379
380
way we think and act? New Delhi: Harper Collins.
381
Penguin.
146
Roy, who went on to set up the NDTV382 Group, approached Doordarshan for a
weekly bulletin of global news events. The programme went on air on November 25,
1988. It ran for 291 episodes till April 28, 1996. The World this Week was much
admired and appreciated for its quality journalism and was highly successful. The
weekly bulletin was in sharp contrast to Doordarshan’s newscast as it had news
pictures, pre-packaged stories, and voice-over to match the visuals (Mehta, 2008)383.
Commenting on power of visual medium to influence people, Ninan (1995)384 held

that the news bulletin was popular even among those who did not understand English.
It was a regular window for people on rest of the world.
• DD3 – In the 1990s, Doordarshan made an attempt to launch a channel aimed

at the country’s intellectual elite. The idea was to win back audiences from BBC
World and Star Plus whose signals were available in India by then. It was launched in
October 1994. Bhaskar Ghose, then Secretary, Ministry of Information and
Broadcasting, was the brainchild of this initiative. His idea was to ‘create a channel
that would not necessarily make money but one that would stimulate and provoke
new trends of thought and perhaps new ways of looking at issues and even at the
creative arts’ (Ghose, 2005)385.
The channel was supposed to carry news and debates, news about market trends and
the latest business information from around the world. It was to have live news and
business programmes. However, this proposal wasn’t appreciated by the PMO386 and
the initiative was scrapped in October 1994, right at its launch. They balked at the
inclusion of live, privately produced news programmes even though this would have
382
New Delhi Television (NDTV) is an Indian commercial broadcasting TV network founded
in 1988 by Radhika Roy and Prannoy Roy.
383
Mehta, Nalin (2008).
384
Penguin.
385
386
Prime Minister’s Office
147
given Doordarshan the credibility it was perceived to lack (Sinha, 1998)387. The
channel was launched later in 1995 without the component of ‘live’ news.
Commenting on its launch, former DG, Rathikant Basu388 noted: “It was supposed to
be an analytical kind of channel which would focus on art, literature, and current
affairs; that was when DD came closest to being a real public real broadcaster. But it
could not remain like that for long. After his (Ghose’s) exit from the Ministry, the
channel lost its edge.”
• Newstrack – It was said to be world’s first private video news magazine.

Newstrack was produced by the India Today Group (Mehta, 2008)389. The show was
aired on Doordarshan’s popular entertainment channel – DD Metro in the year 1994.
Studies conducted later confirmed that Newstrack was rated high on credibility
despite being on the DD platform (Ninan, 1995)390.
• A bulletin for the North-East – On many occasions’ concerns were raised

about the Delhi-centric nature of Doordarshan. In the north-eastern states people
complained that though they learn about rest of the country from television but do not
see their region on the medium (Joshi Committee Report, 1985)391. In 1994,
Doordarshan tried to make amends by starting a special news bulletin aimed at the
region (much before the launch of regional channels). In 1995, it started a news
feature called North-East File on DD National at non-peak viewing hours (Ninan,
1995)392.
387
Sinha, Nikhil (1998). Doordarshan, Public Service Broadcasting and the impact of
Globalization: A short history. In Price, M.E., & Verhulst, S.G. (Eds.), Broadcasting Reform
in India: Media Law from a Global Perspective, (pp. 22-40). New Delhi: Oxford University
Press.
388
Personal interview with Rathikant Basu, former DG, Doordarshan
389
390
Penguin.
391
Joshi, P.C. (1985). An Indian Personality for Television: Report of the Working Group on
Software on Doordarshan. New Delhi: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,
Government of India.
392
Ninan, S (1995)
148
• Eyewitness – It was another video news magazine on DD Metro. Karan
Thapar was the anchor of this half-an-hour show. A weekly programme, it quickly
became a window on current affairs tackling all major subjects of the day and
interviewing top politicians. Amongst its remarkable successes were interviews with
former president R. Venkatraman, former prime ministers of Pakistan, Benazir Bhutto
and Moin Quereshi, and the first interview as prime minister from P.V. Narasimha
Rao393.
Audience studies on these news shows confirmed that people found television more
credible as one could see news being reported as opposed to print. The show was
complimented for it raised people’s awareness about what was happening in the
country, presented both sides of an issue and asked persistent questions. Some people
demanded tougher questioning of politicians (Ninan, 1995, pp.62-63)394.
• Parakh – It was a current affairs programme produced by popular television

personality Vinod Dua. It mixed politics and human-interest stories in a magazine
format. At the end of the show, viewers were urged to send in ideas from their region.
It received many such letters from the audience (ibid, p.61)395.
• Aaj Tak – Before being launched as a Hindi news channel in 2000, Aaj Tak had
made forays into television by engaging with Doordarshan. It started as a 20-minute
daily news bulletin on Doordarshan’s Metro channel in 1995. The bulletin became
popular in a short span of time and inspired a series of news-based similar
programmes on the national network. Aaj Tak is credited with providing live coverage
of the national elections held in 1998 and 1999 (Mehta, 2008)396.
393
Australia India Institute website (2010).Profile of Mr. Karan Thapar. Retrieved online from
http://www.reluctantsuperpower.com/speakers/mr-karan-thapar/
394
Penguin.
395
ibid
396
149
Rathikant Basu397 claimed such experiments to introduce private news productions on
the DD platform offered choice to the viewers before the advent of 24x7 news
channels. Indira Mansingh398felt that the richness offered in news by having both in-
house as well as private productions on one platform (DD), helped television news
come of age. Describing the significance of this period, she observed: “There were a
lot of reporters going to the field, our own reporters started going out. There were a
number of print media reporters who became television reporters. It was, in the
history of Indian Television a very glorious period because it created the base of what
TV news would be afterwards.”
7.2 Doordarshan News in the contemporary television landscape
The main concern in the news space raised by respondents was the difference between
Doordarshan News and private news channels. Most respondents (especially those
serving in Doordarshan and retired people) rated DD News as more responsible and
balanced as compared to the private news channels.
Alok Deshwal399, former News Editor at DD News argued that the private news
channels have completely distorted the meaning of breaking news. Renowned BBC
journalist Mark Tully expressed similar thoughts in a piece written for Outlook
Magazine’s 15th anniversary issue ‘The Great Indian Media Crisis’. Tully (2010)400
noted that the commercialisation of the electronic media was seriously undermining
the role of journalists, particularly those who edit news bulletins and programmes. He
observed that the editorial function was completely missing from the breaking news
slot. He characterised breaking news of private news channels as a desperate attempt
to fill airtime (Tully, 2010).
The private news media received harsh criticism from respondents. Many claimed that
such channels have distorted the definition of news. They accused the private news
397
398
399
Personal interview with Alok Deshwal, former news editor, DD News, 1996-2003
400
Tully, Mark (2010).Pow! Thud! Diss!.Outlook – 15th Anniversary edition titled The Great
Indian Media Crisis.
150
channels of irresponsible reporting, prioritising opinion over facts, creating sensation
while covering crime, and substituting balanced news with hype and sensation.
Most respondents expressed that Doordarshan gives hard news devoid of opinion and
sensationalism. B.G. Verghese401 complained that private news channels have debates
and discussions which are more about noise and hype. In similar vein, Indira
Mansingh402 commented: “When I want the hard core story I watch DD News. I may
go back to a private news channel to get more information but the hard core news
comes from Doordarshan. So I think in terms of credibility of the news channel, it has
its place.”
Bhupendra Kainthola403 who had a long stint in the news division of Prasar Bharati,
feels that Doordarshan’s news may not be the best but it attempts to give a balanced
picture. He cited examples of coverage of government schemes to explain that the
private news media fails to look at the brighter side of things: “The positive side of
any story is often ignored by private news channels. Take the case of the
MNREGA404, they only cover areas where it hasn’t worked but in many states, the
scheme is working wonderfully, such as my home state Uttaranchal. But the private
news media never focuses on the brighter aspects.”
The views of Doordarshan personnel were in sharp contrast with those in the industry
and academia. Mehta (2008)405 demonstrated the positive outcomes of the presence of
a thriving private news media which he indicated was far less subservient and
paternalistic than Doordarshan. According to him, 24x7 television news channels have
made possible new ways of imagining identities, conducting politics, and engaging
with the state.
401
Personal interview with B.G. Verghese, former member Prasar Bharati Board and
Chairman of the Akash Bharati Committee Report
402
403
Personal interview with Bhupendra Kainthola, Assistant News Editor & News editor, DD
News, 1991-2004
404
Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act
405
151
Professor Daya Thussu406 believes that the proliferation of news networks in India
have contributed to democratizing public communication and making it free from
government control. About Doordarshan, he noted: “DD News was the first and the
only terrestrial news channel in the country, and had the highest reach into television
households. Though not as bland as during its monopoly days, DD News still lacks
the edge and critical dimension that at least some private channels have earned in the
past decade of operation.”
Doordarshan’s news is perceived to lack credibility especially when it comes to news

related to government affairs. There have been frequent allegations against
Doordarshan for being soft on the government in power and the ruling party. The most
recent of these was when Doordarshan was alleged to have edited out some parts of
an interview of the main opposition party’s (BJP) Prime Ministerial candidate just
before the 2014 elections. In the aftermath of that incident CEO, Prasar Bharati,
Jawhar Sircar had written a letter to the Prasar Bharati Board complaining that the
Ministry of Information and Broadcasting had failed to grant the public broadcaster
‘operational autonomy’ in several key matters. According to media reports, he is also
believed to have spoken about the traditional linkage between the ministry and the
news division, which in his view, ought to have been broken (Hindustan Times,
2014)407.
However, some DD personnel disagreed that there is direct interference in news. In

their view, it was self-caution on the part of Doordarshan officials resulting in a self-
imposed censorship rather than one imposed from above. Former news editor, Alok
Deshwal408 conceded: “I never faced any form of censorship. Whatever censorship
you see in news is due to reluctance of DD officials to talk about any sensitive issue
as they feel they are in government job. They are fearful and hence become extra-
cautious in dealing with news. This is what causes the censorship.”
406
Personal interview with Prof. Daya Thussu, media academician.
407
Hindustan Times, (May 02, 2014). Manish Tewari failed to ensure autonomy: Prasar
Bharati CEO.Hindustan Times. Retrieved from www.hindustantimes.com
408
152
Former news presenter on Doordarshan, Sunit Tandon409 stated: “As far as being
oversensitive or over cautious is concerned, I feel it is a self-imposed caution. When I
was there, I interviewed then-BJP President Bangaru Laxman just after the Tehelka
expose. I asked him directly did you take money? He said no, but I said you were
heard saying dollars in the video; he said no that was for something else. But I could
ask that and nobody asked me to delete it or play it down.”
Indira Mansingh410 explained that this conception of cautiousness with regard to news
spanned across all kinds of news and not just government-related news. She said: “We
would be so cautious in each and every bulletin so it was edited carefully. No
communal overtones. We were so sensitive to the North-East that they should not feel
alienated. There was a lot of involvement in ensuring that there should be no riots in
the country due to our news. People should be given the sense that things are right.”
Former DG Doordarshan, Tripurari Sharan411, argued on similar lines: “We place a lot
of emphasis on authenticity. We need to have certain benchmark of authenticity. A
logical corollary of that is we are circumspect of facts before we put them out. We
can’t be reckless, we do not sensationalize when it comes to news. We give
information which is sanitized of possible hollowness. That is our hallmark.”
Sunit Tandon412 elaborated that a lot of this consciousness comes from old news
values in Doordarshan. Hence, there is a tendency to over-check, to maintain balance
which leads to self-censorship. However, he feels that Doordarshan’s news coverage
has improved significantly over the years. According to him, it is far less biased today
and covers not just the government but opposition parties too.
Majority of the respondents agreed that Doordarshan’s news has improved in recent
times. Respondents who have worked with the news division articulated that there
exists a strong sense of responsibility and accountability when it comes to news on
409
Personal interview with Sunit Tandon, former News presenter, Doordarshan
410
411
Personal interview with Tripurari Sharan, former DG, Doordarshan
412
153
Doordarshan. Chetan Vyas413, former Deputy Director of Programmes, said that a lot
of effort is taken to ensure that news is reliable. He said there is a protocol that unless
and until a piece of news is ratified by at least two sources, it will not be put on air.
K.S. Dhatwalia414, Additional Director-General in the Ministry of Information and

Broadcasting, who has also served at DD News, noted: “DD and AIR are more
accountable. There are strict controls; responsibility is fixed for irresponsible news.
Heads will roll if something goes wrong. So, there is a great deal of responsibility and
accountability when it comes to news in DD as compared to the private news
channels.”
Present DG (News), S.M. Khan415 claimed that Doordarshan’s news is much more
representative as it covers all the states. He stated: “We have 29 regional news units.
We have local staff to cover news for our regional news bulletins. The regional units
also provide inputs for our national bulletins. We run on DD News something called
as ‘States Scan’ - in which 11 states are covered. Similarly, we have ‘Metro Scan’ to
cover news from the four metros. This is to give space to both local and national
perspective.” He feels Doordarshan makes an important contribution in the news
genre. He exuded confidence that appointment viewing does happen in the case of DD
News.
However, not everyone seemed to welcome Doordarshan’s guarded approach to news.

Media critic Shailaja Bajpai416 who also writes a weekly column in The Indian
Express analyzing television channels’ coverage, asserted: “DD’s news bulletin still
has more news from around the world than any other news channel. That is true, but
news is beyond giving you straight news. In all this clutter, when private news
channels have so much noise; there is an ideal space for a public service broadcaster
of the kind that you have in the BBC to give sane, informative, and well researched
news. The space is there but Doordarshan doesn’t want to occupy that space.”
413
Personal interview with Chetan Vyas, former Deputy Director, Programming
414
Personal interview with K.S. Dhatwalia, ADG, Ministry of Information & Broadcasting
415
Personal interview with S.M. Khan, former Director-General (News), Doordarshan
416
Personal interview with Shailaja Bajpai, Media critic, The Indian Express
154
Bajpai also raised questions on the credibility of Doordarshan’s news especially when
it comes to the government. She feels its image of being the ‘government’s voice’ has
not completely worn off. Similar views were expressed by former DG, Rathikant
Basu417 who observed: “As far as news is concerned, Doordarshan’s news was never
really considered credible by people. It always had the impression of government
news.”
During the conversation on Doordarshan and its approach to news, some suggestions
also came about on ways to improve its news. Rajiv Mehrotra418 concurred that the
production values need to be upgraded. He said: “Doordarshan’s news needs
sophistication. You don’t have to be glamorous for that like the private channels do.
You don’t have to be expensive. It should have the intellectual rigour. It has to have
the brightness like the private news channels and their anchors have.”
ADG (Programming), Ranjan P. Thakur419 asserted that despite claims of being a

responsible news channel, DD News doesn’t score high on television ratings. He cited
lack of clear positioning as one of the reasons for the same. He stated: “It is neither
Hindi nor English; you do not know where you are. Neither English people watch it
nor do Hindi people watch it.”
He, further, said that on many occasions Doordarshan goes overboard in covering
government functions giving much more airtime than they actually deserve. He gave
the example of DD News’s coverage of inauguration of the National Women’s Bank
by the Prime Minister in November 2013 which was done for continuous six hours.
Sunit Tandon420 made a case for greater funding and manpower for Doordarshan’s
news division. He also expressed that judging news channels by the yardstick of
television ratings and profitability is not a fair proposition since news channels, the
world over, are not making money.
417
418
Personal interview with Rajiv Mehrotra, Managing Trustee, Public Service Broadcasting
Trust (PSBT)
419
Personal interview with Ranjan P. Thakur, ADG, Programming (2013)
420
155
7.3 The changing nature of news
The genre of news has witnessed many changes the world over. It has also been a
subject of interest amongst researchers and academicians. In this context, it is
important to put findings from this research in context with established body of
literature.
Turner (2010)421 argues that media industries have embraced the commercial strategy
of turning information into entertainment. He notes that the traditional news and
current affairs programme on television are in decline in a number of markets. This
coupled with other economic compulsions is resulting in changes in the very format
of news. People too seem to have had enough of information as a presentational
format, says Turner.
One can relate this to some of the concerns related to news in India that have been
articulated here. A common apprehension that came across especially with regard to
the private news channels is the rise of opinion at the cost of factual and field based
reporting. Sandeep Bhushan, a former journalist and now a media faculty, writes that
in the post-liberalization period, the most grievous blow has been suffered by two key
institutions in the news space – the editor and the reporter. He asserts that it is the
studio which has become the new site for “manufacturing” news while the reporter
has become marginal to the news gathering operations (Bhushan, 2013)422.
Kronig (2000)423 contends that news is getting more superficial and sensational. The
received wisdom of producers and editors is that, only by personalizing, can news
stories have meaning for the audience. In the Indian context, similar issues were
raised by some respondents about crime-related news stories where they felt there was
a tendency to personalize and create hype. This often sidelines the main issue at hand
and attempts to provide a spectacle to the audience.
421
Turner, Graeme (2010). Ordinary People and the Media. London: Sage Publications.
422
Bhushan, Sandeep (2013). Manufacturing News.Economic and Political Weekly, Vol.
48(23), 12-15.
423
Kronig, Jurgen (2000). Elite versus Mass: The impact of television in an age of
globalisation. Historical Journal of Film, Radio and Television, Vol. 20(1),
156
The research findings bring out two important aspects: (a) there are serious issues
with private news channels in terms of its information function, and (b) Doordarshan,
despite making some improvements is not able to provide a credible alternative. It
was also found that Doordarshan’s staff had a very high opinion of its news claiming
it to be far more responsible than news on private channels.
In this context, Professor Daya Thussu’s424 analysis about the Indian scenario seems
to be relevant. He argued: “Not dissimilar to trends in the US, the growing
commercialization of television news has forced broadcast journalists and television
producers in India to recognize the need to make news entertaining. They borrow and
adapt ideas from entertainment and adopt an informal style with an emphasis on
personalities, storytelling and spectacle.”
7.4 Programming Strategies
Doordarshan’s network comprises of 28 channels (Table 7.1). DD 1 also known as

DD National is the flagship channel. DD 1 comprises of a three-tier service viz.
National Programme, Regional Programme and Local Programme. The national
programme focuses on ‘events and issues of interest to the entire nation’. The national
programmes are aimed at “promoting national integration and inculcating a sense of
unity and fraternity” are broadcast on this channel (DD official website)425. The
national programme originates from Delhi and all transmitters in the country relay it.
DD National is one of the largest terrestrial networks in the world covering about
91.2% population and 79% geographical area of the country. The channel has a
programming mix of entertainment, information and education. The service is
available in terrestrial mode from 05.30 a.m. till midnight. In the satellite mode it is
available round the clock. The telecast time of different programmes is devised in a
way so as to cater to the needs of different viewers at different timings (Annual
Report, 2009-10)426.
424
425
DD official website www.ddindia.in
426
Prasar Bharati (2010). Annual Report 2009-10. Prasar Bharati. New Delhi.
157
The focus of this section will be on examining Doordarshan’s programming strategies
and to analyze changes that have taken place over the years.
Table 7.1 – Doordarshan Network

S. No. Name of channel Category
1. DD National National
2. DD News National
3. DD Sports National
4. DD Bharati National
5. DD Urdu National
6. DD Malayalam Regional language channel
7. DD Odiya Regional channel
8. DD Saptagiri Regional channel
9. DD Sahyadri Regional channel
10. DD Podhigai Regional channel
11. DD Bangla Regional channel
12. DD Chandana Regional channel
13. DD Girnar Regional channel
14. DD Kashir Regional channel
15. DD Punjabi Regional channel
16. DD North-East Regional channel
17. Rajasthan, Bihar, Chhatisgarh, Tripura, State Networks
MP, Himachal Pradesh, Haryana,
Jharkhand, Uttaranchal, Uttar Pradesh,
Mizoram, Meghalaya.
Source: Annual Report, 2009-10427
7.5 Programme component and sources
The educational component is drawn from sources such as Indira Gandhi National
Open University (IGNOU), University Grant Commission (UGC), and Central
Institute of Educational Technology (CIET), NCERT and State Institutes of
Educational Technology (Annual Report, 2007-08)428.
427
Prasar Bharati (2010). Annual Report 2009-10. Prasar Bharati. New Delhi
428
Prasar Bharati (2008). Annual Report 2007-08. Prasar Bharati. New Delhi.
158
The information component on DD National consists of news and current affairs
programmes largely produced in-house. DD National airs Hindi as well as English
news bulletins. The entertainment component comprises mainly mid-day soaps,
evening serials, feature films, film-based programmes and sports.
Programme sourcing
Programmes for different channels of Doordarshan are sourced from:

• In-house production: Programmes produced by Doordarshan professionals
utilizing own infrastructure, including coverage of live events.
• Commissioned programmes: Programmes produced by persons of proven
merit with funds provided by Doordarshan..
• Sponsored programmes: Privately produced programmes telecast by
Doordarshan on payment of a fee in exchange for free commercial time.
• Royalty programmes: Programmes acquired by Doordarshan from outside
producers on payment of royalty for single or multiple telecasts.
• Acquired Programmes: Programmes/events acquired from foreign companies
on payment of rights fee.
• Educational/Development programmes: Educational and Development
programmes produced by different agencies of the Government.
• Self-financed Commissioning (SFC): The initial production cost of these
programmes is met by the private producer. Doordarshan reimburses the
production cost to the producer after commencement of the telecast. The
programme is marketed by Doordarshan. The scheme also has provisions for
payment of bonus on approved production cost on attainment of high TRPs,
and for reduction of production cost in case of poor performance of
programme.
159
Table 7.2 Programme Schedule – DD National (weekdays)
Programme schedule of DD National
5.30-6.30 am Educational programmes from IGNOU At 6 am the kendras delink
from DD National to show
their own programmes
6.30-7.00 am Narrowcasting (agriculture)
7.00-7.30 am News
7.30 am onwards In-house production – Aaj Savere
9.00-10.00 am Serial Kendras join DD National
10.00-10.30 am NCERT (educational) programme Kendras again delink for
Tarang half-an-hour for
children’s/educational
programme
10.30-11.00 am Serial Kendras rejoin DD National
11.00 am-12.00 pm When Parliament is in session –
Question Hour (Live)
Else serials are shown
12.00-3.00 pm Mid-prime-time – Women oriented
serials
4.00-8.00 pm Mix of informational (news), Respective kendras delink
educational (Krishi Darshan), and from DD National; show
entertainment programmes (film music their own programmes which
– Chitrahaar) comprises of regional news
bulletin as well.
8.00-8.30 pm News Bulletin: Samachar – Hindi, Kendas join National
News – English. Network
8.30-11.00 pm SFC (commissioned) programmes –
entertainment shows
Source: As recounted by Chetan Vyas, Consultant, DD National429
429
Personal interview with Chetan Vyas, former Deputy Director, Programming & presently
consultant, DD National (2013)
160
7.6 Procurement of programmes
Doordarshan grew slowly in the first two decades since its inception. It was only in
the 1980s that rapid strides in programming, technology and transmission were made.
The launch of indigenous satellite communication through the INSAT series gave a
major impetus to satellite transmission of television signals (Singhal & Rogers,
2001)430.
The launch of INSAT IA and INSAT IB allowed the creation of what was called the
‘National Programme’. It led to the massive expansion of television – every
transmitter in the country could now pick up a television signal from the Delhi Centre
through satellite (Mehta, 2008)431.
The regional stations uplinked their signals to S-band transponders on the INSAT
satellites; these were taken down by the terrestrial transmitters, amplified and
rebroadcast terrestrially across the state. When the National Programme was
launched, terrestrial transmitters shut off the link to the regional kendras and switched
to the C-band transponder carrying the National Programme being uplinked from
Delhi (Ghose, 2005)432.
The national programme with its launch in 1982 led to increased demand for
programmes on Doordarshan. That is when it came up with new ways of producing
software. Till then, programmes were produced in-house. It came up with the idea that
private producers could be asked to make serials that were sponsored by a commercial
concern. This meant that the cost was met by the commercial entity, which would be
awarded a certain number of minutes to advertise their products before, during and
after each episode (Ghose, 2005, p.31)433.
430
Singhal, A, & Rogers, Everett M. (2001).India’s Communication Revolution: From Bullock
Carts to Cyber Marts. New Delhi: Sage Publications.
431
432
433
ibid
161
This was how sponsored programmes started on Doordarshan. Proposals for
sponsored programmes were invited from producers. Hum Log was the first sponsored
serial to appear on Doordarshan. It started airing in July 1984. Itwas also the first soap
opera on Indian television. It had a social message interwoven with the storyline434.
The concept started after a US-based NGO approached the Ministry of Information
and Broadcasting to start a series with family planning messages couched as
entertainment. The experiment was based on the successful tele-novellas in Mexico
(Ghose, 2005)435.
Hum Log was sponsored by Maggi Noodles, a brand owned by Nestle India. Nestle
paid for the telecast fee and production cost of Hum Log. It got about five minutes of
free commercial time in exchange (Mehta, 2008, p.154)436. The brand itself became
highly successful and a recognized name in Indian households. Some other popular
and successful sponsored programmes of this decade were - Ramayana,
Mahabharata,Buniyaad, Khandaan, Nukkad, and Chanakya. Chetan Vyas437, former
Deputy Director (Programming) claimed that this was the point when the essence of
Doordarshan’s programming started moving towards entertainment.
Though sponsored programmes worked well for Doordarshan in terms of saving costs
and manpower, it had pitfalls too. Since Doordarshan did not pay for the programme,
the copyright remained with the producer and DD never had the opportunity to show
reruns of popular serials. Basharat Ahmed438, former DDG (Programming) felt that
maintaining a library of good programmes is essential for a public broadcaster. He
admitted: “You have to create channels and then sustain them, creating a channel is no
big deal. But you need a library; because we were running sponsored programmes we
had no rights on them. Mahabharata is not ours, Khandaan and Buniyaad are not
ours, Nukkad is not ours. That is the problem.”
434
As told by Chetan Vyas during personal interview
435
436
way we think and act? New Delhi: Harper Collins
437
438
Personal interview with Basharat Ahmed, former DDG, Programming
162
He noted that greater control was exercised on content of sponsored programmes in
those early days of sponsorship and commissioning. That is the reason, he says, prime
time entertainment shows from the 1980s such as Khandaan, Buniyaad, Nukkad and
Kakaji Kahin are still fondly remembered for their theme and execution.
Doordarshan found this method much cheaper and less of a trouble instead of making
its own programmes, having directors and actors, musicians and scriptwriters, lights
and studio, all it needed to do was ask a private producer to make it. Bhaskar Ghose439
elaborated on the kind of people who came forward with proposals. “There were a lot
of people from the (Bombay) Hindi-film industry. The list of people included
acclaimed names such as Kundan Shah, Saeed Mirza, Govind Nihlani, Basu
Chatterjee, Shyam Benegal among others.”
Another way of procuring programmes was to commission them in which

Doordarshan would pay for production costs and get the copyright. Sadgati made by
the legendary film-maker Satyajit Ray was the first commissioned tele-film for
Doordarshan. The copyright was with Doordarshan440. Sadgati was fondly
remembered and described by many programming personnel as one of the finest
shows on television.
Recounting those days former ADG (Programming) Ananya Banerjee441 said: “The
first serial to be commissioned was Sadgati by Satyajit Ray. We had to request him to
make a programme for us, he was not really keen. We had to go with folded hands.”
The second film to be commissioned was Aadmi aur Aurat made by Tapan Sinha.
Ananya Banerjee described Sinha as one of the finest but lesser known Bengali
directors.
A number of respondents raised issues with the system of commissioning and felt that
over the years it has become a breeding ground for corruption, nepotism and
promoting substandard work. Bhaskar Ghose442 who headed the organization during
439
Personal interview with Bhaskar Ghose, former DG, Doordarshan
440
As told by Ananya Banerjee, former ADG, Programming during personal interview
441
442
163
these times recollected that along with some of the finest works that came in, “a
number of mediocre serials made by mediocre people” also found their way on to the
DD platform. There was also political interference here as he explained: “They
(producers) knew that the way to get their shows in was by using a little clout. So that
is where money played a big part and we were often given instructions that this
particular serial should be carried, this should not be carried.”
Basharat Ahmed443 claimed that this practice continues till date. He noted: “What
happened later over a period of time, you (the scheme) created a battery of people
who had neither passion nor attitude or aptitude towards programming. So right now
you will find in the empanelled list, producers who will show records of having
produced 500 episodes for Doordarshan. But they may not be worth producing a
single good quality programme.”
Programming personnel Brij Bakshi444 who retired in 2013 as Head of the Delhi
Doordarshan Kendra felt that commissioning, sponsorship and acquisition of
programmes were complex matters and every Director-General struggled to get it
right. He expressed disappointment that the entire commissioning process started
encouraging moneymakers in the name of filmmakers.
Ghose (2005)445 commented that during this period when sponsored and
commissioned content reigned supreme, the kind of programmes DD had been set up
to broadcast took a backseat. “These included “programmes that informed and
sensitized viewers, they were produced perfunctorily with very little attention of
making them visually interesting or informative” (p.33).
The Joshi Committee constituted in 1982 to prepare a software plan for Doordarshan
too had expressed similar concerns. It had noted: “India has moved away from using
television for development-oriented communication to utilizing it for low-quality
entertainment.” It had further observed that alienation from the fundamental needs
443
444
Personal interview with Brij Bakshi, former ADG & Head, Delhi Doordarshan Kendra
445
164
and problems of the Indian people was far greater in the case of Doordarshan than All
India Radio (Joshi Committee Report, 1985)446.
Dr. S.Y. Quraishi447 who was Director General from 2001 to 2002 faced similar issues
with the process of commissioning. He described Doordarshan’s earlier process of
commissioning as inefficient with limited safeguards on quality. He argued: “In
commissioning we would just pay the money; there was no check on quality. People
used to produce anything. There was corruption at the stage of getting programmes
cleared by a technical committee.”
In a bid to overcome such concerns, the Self-Financed Commissioning (SFC) Scheme

was launched on June 23, 2005. In this scheme Doordarshan commissions
programmes to outside producers who produce the programme at their own cost for
selection. Once selected, marketing of the programme is done by Doordarshan’s
marketing division. This scheme is applicable for DD National channel, regional
language channels and local services.
The benefit of this approach is that the copyright remains with Doordarshan. SFC
scheme is linked to ratings or TRPs448 of the show; there is provision of incentive in
case of higher TRPs and deduction of payment in case of low TRPs of benchmark.
According to Doordarshan’s Annual Report for the year 2007-08, revenue earning per
slot has increased three folds in comparison to sponsored programmes with the
implementation of SFC scheme.
According to the channel, introduction of programmes under SFC has resulted in

enhancing quality and improving content of programmes. This has resulted in
increased viewership and growth in revenue for Doordarshan. The revenue from
sponsored programmes in prime-time slots (8.30 to 11.00 pm) was about 17.5 lakhs
per day [3.5x5]; whereas from SFC serials, the average revenue from these slots is
446
Joshi, P.C. (1985). An Indian Personality for Television: Report of the Working Group on
Software on Doordarshan. New Delhi: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting,
Government of India.
447
Personal interview with Dr. S.Y. Quraishi, former DG, Doordarshan
448
Television rating points
165
more than Rs. 65 lakhs per day. Similarly, in case of mid-prime-time slots (afternoon)
the average revenue from six slots under sponsored programmes was about 6 lakhs;
while from SFC the average revenue for the same slots is more than 16 lakhs (Annual
Report, 2008-09)449.
In SFC, Doordarshan doesn’t have to spend any money on programming in the initial
stage. Producers get their pilot, which comprises of first 3-4 episodes, script is given
episode-wise. The pilot episodes are shown to a panel comprising of three outside
experts. After short-listing, the selected programmes are graded. The panel also
decides appropriate time band for the show (prime time/non-prime time/mid-prime
time). According to the grading, the production costs (episode price of the
programme) are fixed. Payments are made to the producer after a period of 90 days
from the first day of the month in which episodes are telecast. The producer is
expected to maintain a certain benchmark TRP. As mentioned earlier, payment to
producers is linked to TRPs generated by the programme. If the show has low TRPs
for a long period, it is taken off air450.
Marketing Head at Doordarshan, Vijaylakshmi Chhabra451 said that the SFC scheme
could have been fine-tuned further. She also stated that the quality of programmes on
DD needs to improve which requires strict and continuous monitoring. Chhabra
observed that once SFC started, people in DD became relaxed and stopped monitoring
the shows. She said: “The programmes keep coming and we are happy with it. Once
you make a programme, you were able to raise money, you were able to sell it; but
then you need to review the scheme. If you have ten programmes, then at least on two
out of those you should be spending a little more money because the whole channel is
packaged in an average. But no one really did it in Doordarshan.”
While talking to respondents about the SFC scheme, it was observed that some of
them used the term TRP as a measure of quality of programmes. The fact that the SFC
449
450
As told by Ananya Banerjee (former ADG, Programming); Vijaylakshmi Chhabra (former
Marketing head, Doordarshan) during personal interviews with respondents; and Annual
Report, Prasar Bharati, 2007-08.
451
Personal interview with Vijaylakshmi Chhabra, former Marketing Head, Doordarshan
166
scheme links success of the show with popularity expressed in the form of TRPs was
quite acceptable to at least a quarter of the respondents interviewed.
Former DG, Dr. S.Y. Quraishi452, while extolling advantages of the SFC scheme
stated: “In SFC, the advantage was that - not one penny paid by Doordarshan, all paid
for by the producer, but the content belongs to us. And payment is based on
performance of the programme. So there was zero investment (initially on the part of
DD) and assured quality because if you do not get quality, you will not get the
money.”
An important point that needs attention here is the drastic reduction of in-house
production in Doordarshan over the years especially since the onset of sponsored and
commissioned programmes. At present there isn’t a single in-house production neither
in prime time nor in the mid-prime time slot. Former DG, Tripurari Sharan453
explained: “As far as narrative fiction is concerned, there is no in-house production.”
He stated that Doordarshan is better off by outsourcing content production.
By the end of 1990s, in-house production had hit a

Central Production Centre
low in Doordarshan. The Central Production
Centre (CPC) at New Delhi was almost in disuse. The Central Production Centre
(CPC) in New Delhi is
Barring the news channel, no other channel was responsible for overseeing
having in-house content. The CPC at that time was transmission of the national
being used only for news production and few channels i.e. DD News, DD
Sports, DD India, DD National,
sports programmes. At present most of the content
and DD Bharati. It also produces
on DD is outsourced454. documentaries and other special
programmes for various channels
of the network. It has two studio
Brij Bakshi455 claimed that the inability of DD to
set-ups.
come up with new formats in in-house
452
453
454
As told by Ranjan P. Thakur (ADG-Programming), Shekhar Chowdhury (former DDG-
Programming) & Tripurari Sharan, former DG, Doordarshan during personal interviews with
respondents.
455
167
programming is one of the causes for its decline. However, he reminded that even
today there is considerable in-house production in the form of live coverage.
Doordarshan being the national broadcaster covers state functions such as
Independence Day celebrations, Republic Day Parade, National Awards presentation
ceremonies, President and Prime Minister’s all-important activities such as visits to
foreign nations, and foreign dignitary’s functions.
Bhaskar Ghose456 asserted that it is essential for a public broadcaster to make its own
programmes. He argued: “I wanted it (Doordarshan) to be a broadcasting organization
which made its own programmes. It would be a source of creative entertainment
because there is no other way in which you can counter commercial television except
making your own programmes; then you will make programmes which will have
some kind of relevance, interest in what we call public service broadcasting.”
He explained how he tried to prevent the reduction in in-house production in DD.

Ghose feels Doordarshan of today is no more than a renter of airtime as it produces
very little original programming. The only original programmes on Doordarshan,
according to him are the Independence and Republic Day celebrations.
Some others see this as a lost opportunity – a failure to energize and reinvigorate in-
house production. B.G. Verghese457 agreed that in-house shows have been consistently
marginalized in Doordarshan. He also mentioned how the private channels have built
their workforce by hiring people from Doordarshan.
The Shunu Sen Committee458 (2001) had made a strong pitch for reviving in-house
production in Doordarshan. While maintaining that commissioning of outside
producers for certain type of programmes would be inevitable, it recommended full
utilization of in-house hardware and human resources to produce high quality
programmes.
456
457
458
Sen, Shunu (2000). Report of the Review Committee on the working of Prasar Bharati.New
Delhi: Ministry of Information and Broadcasting, Government of India.
168
The committee further noted: “The capability of Doordarshan to produce good
programming should not be in doubt. Not only have excellent programmes been
produced in the past, but it is well-known that many popular programmes carried by
other channels, have been made by Doordarshan staff moon-lighting, sometimes using
Doordarshan equipment (Sen Committee Report, 2001, p. 26)459.
Commissioning of programmes is becoming the accepted norm in most parts of the

world for broadcast networks. Ananya Banerjee460 asserted that commissioning per se
is not a bad idea; even successful PSBs such as the BBC procure content from outside
talent. She, however, agreed that outsourcing has become dominant in recent times
and in-house production reduced to minimal. Former ADG (Programming), Ashok
Jailkhani461 felt that it is not worthwhile to restrict oneself to in-house production
alone when there is no dearth of talent outside. He admitted that one can get more
diversity and variety in programming by outsourcing content to external producers.
Hence, an analysis of DD’s programme procurement strategies reveal that beginning

in the 1980s Doordarshan moved from in-house to sponsored and then to
commissioned programming. At present, commissioning continues to be the dominant
way of producing software which has taken different forms. The merits and demerits
of each system have also been discussed in the context of Doordarshan’s experience.
Prieti Dasani Dey462, a senior media professional who has also worked with private
channels in India acknowledges that in-house production is on the decline even in
private channels which prefer to buy programmes from production houses. However,
she maintains that the private channels strictly monitor content for appeal and
acceptability amongst the audience. She cites the case of Star Plus, the channel which
gets the highest TRPs for its prime time shows, having four stages of approval for all
programmes.
459
ibid
460
461
Personal interview with Ashok Jailkhani, former ADG, Programming
462
Personal interview with Prieti Dasani Dey, media faculty and former executive producer at
Star India Private Limited.
169
Thus, mixed reactions were obtained on the importance of in-house production as an
essential component of a public broadcaster’s mandate. Significantly, DD’s own staff
admitted that programming has to improve in order to remain relevant in the
television landscape. They also pointed that in certain genres, Doordarshan continues
to do in-house production and some pioneering work has been done in the recent past.
The nationwide health communication campaign carried on through Kalyani is a case
in point. Some of these initiatives are discussed below.
7.7 Information and Education Programmes
Most respondents agreed that the information and education component in

Doordarshan’s programming has reduced over a period of time. Data available for the
period 1994-2008 shows interesting variations in the share of each genre in overall
programming.
Table 7.3 Share of different genres in overall programming
Year Education (in % terms) Information (in %) Entertainment (in %)
1994-1995 28.3 34.3 37.4
1996-1997 23.9 38.2 37.9
1997-1998 26.0 39.0 35.0
1998-1999 23.0 35.0 42.0
2003-2004 11 32 57
2006-2007 9 9.9 51
2007-2008 8 8 60*
Source: Prasar Bharati Annual Reports463, Narayan, 2014464 (p. 116)
*2007-2008 – Entertainment and film based entertainment were given as two separate
categories. This figure represents combined share of entertainment and films.
The table above shows that the amount of educational programming as a percentage
of total programming on the national network has reduced from 28.3% in 1994-1995
to 8% by 2007-2008. The share of informational content (including news and current
463
Prasar Bharati (2004, 2006 & 2007). Annual Report 2003-04, 2006-07 & 2007-08. Prasar
Bharati. New Delhi
464
Narayan, S.S. (2014). Globalization and Television: A Study of the Indian Experience
1990-2010. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
170
affairs) has fluctuated showing some increase towards the late 1990s but falling
sharply in the next seven years to 9.9% and then slipping further to 8 % in 2007-2008.
Subsequent annual reports of Prasar Bharati i.e. from 2008-09 onwards have stopped
giving the programme composition figures for Doordarshan.
Narayan (2014)465 shows that though total programming in terms of hours aired by
DD1 has increased, there hasn’t been a corresponding increase in the share of
informational and educational programmes. The national network was being aired on
DD1 for an average of 62 hours per week in 1993. By December 1994, this figure had
increased to 70 hours per week, while by 1999 it had touched 168 hours per week. In
the same period, she claims that while the share of education in 1994 was 28.3 per
cent (base – 70 hrs/week), it dropped to 18.4 per cent by 1999 when the base was 168
hours a week (p. 118).
B.G. Verghese466 said as much during an interaction that the extension services, the
school and farm broadcasts have shrunk both on Doordarshan over a period of time.
Doordarshan’s staff, however, had a different point of view on the same. They
observed that information and education programmes are still being done through
other avenues such as local and regional services. One such initiative is narrowcasting
which is discussed later.
Some respondents stated that it is not so much the drop in percentage terms of
educational programming but the dismal quality of such broadcasts which is a cause
of concern. Former DG Rathikant Basu467 gave example of the exclusive channel
launched for education Gyandarshan by Doordarshan in collaboration with the
Ministry of Human Resource Development and IGNOU. Apart from being an
exclusive channel thereby having limited viewership, it is not even well produced said
Basu. He compared Gyandarshan to other private channels meant for education
(Toppers), saying that the latter are far better produced and technically crafted.
465
Ibid
466
467
171
Personal observation by the researcher too pointed in the same direction. On the
Gyandarshan channel, mathematical concepts are taught using the blackboard method
which is essentially recorded footage of a teacher solving a mathematics sum on the
blackboard using a piece of chalk. The teacher seldom looks into the camera making
no eye contact with the television audience. At a time when new technology makes
learning more visual and engaging; showing recorded footage from traditional
classrooms for imparting education on TV appears naïve to say the least.
Noted media critic and author Sevanti Ninan468 observed that some Doordarshan
Kendras (regional stations) do a fair amount of educational and public service
programmes. She mentioned Andhra Pradesh where the Kendras do significant
amount of programming on agriculture. However, she agreed that most of it is
shabbily produced. Ninan attributed this to abysmally low budgets for programming
in Doordarshan. She held: “Public service broadcasting need not be cheap (low cost)
and it should not be cheap. It should cost money and it should be given the money.”
She, further, noted that due to increasing pressure on Doordarshan to earn revenues
from the market, the educational telecasts are taking a beating and it is forced to do
commercial broadcasting on a greater scale.
Media critic Shailaja Bajpai469 refuted criticism of Doordarshan not doing enough
educational programmes. She said that Doordarshan does give space to programmes
on agriculture, development issues as well as focuses on art and culture. According to
her, the concern remains with quality of programmes: “the programmes are poor in
everything in terms of content and production values.” She suggested that there must
be some benchmark of quality.
Ashok Jailkhani470 expressed that ever since its inception, Doordarshan has continued
to play an important role in building awareness on key areas of agriculture, health and
education. He held that during the Green Revolution, Doordarshan played an
important role in developing scientific temper amongst the farmers by giving them
468
Perosnal interview with Sevanti Ninan, Media critic and author
469
470
172
necessary information. He reiterated that even today in most Kendras, a fair amount
of airtime is given to agriculture, health and other social concerns. A key initiative
taken by Doordarshan to fund public service programming was setting up of the
Development Communication Division. Other initiatives in information and
educational programming are discussed below.
7.8 Development Communication Division (DCD)
The Development Communication Division was established in 2001 to fulfill

Doordarshan’s responsibility of highlighting development-oriented issues and to cater
to the communication needs of government departments and public sector
undertakings (PSUs). The concept was born out of a need to generate revenue by
securing funds from government partners including ministries, departments, and PSUs
(Bhasin, 2006)471.
In this model, while government departments pay for the airtime and production costs,
Doordarshan conceptualizes and implements the development campaigns which are
then shown on its network. During the year 2007-08, DCD utilized airtime worth Rs.
466 crores for development campaigns with net revenue income of Rs. 245 crores
(Annual Report, 2007-08)472.
Some of the major campaigns taken up by DCD since its formation are discussed
below:
• Rural Development Campaign – It was a bi-media – radio and television
campaign for the Ministry of Rural Development. The prime objective of the
rural development campaign was to create awareness among the target
audience. It focused on creating awareness about various schemes of the
ministry in areas such as housing, roads, drinking water and sanitation. The
campaign targeted 6 lakh villages through programmes in 29 languages and
dialects (Bhasin, 2006)473.
471
Bhasin, Usha (April 2006). Kalyani Newsletter, Volume 3. New Delhi: Doordarshan.
472
473
Bhasin, Usha (April 2006)
173
• Breaking Stigma around HIV/AIDS – DCD entered into partnership with the
BBC World Service Trust (BBCWST) and the National AIDS Control
Organization (NACO) in 2001 to build awareness and break social stigma
about HIV/AIDS. The campaign was first telecast in June 2002 and included
public service ads (spots), production and telecast of a detective drama serial
‘Jasoos Vijay’ and a youth show ‘Haath se Haath Mila’ (ibid).
Jasoos Vijay was a detective mystery series produced by BBC World Service Trust
in collaboration with Doordarshan and NACOto spread awareness about
HIV/AIDS. It premiered on DD National in 2002 and ran for three seasons till
2006. The series was centered around Vijay, a private detective who was portrayed
as HIV positive. It was divided into a number of mini-series with each extending
to a month during which detective Vijay solved one case. At the end of each
episode actor Om Puri addressed the issue of HIV/AIDS by visiting a rural area
and talking to common people there or by answering letters from viewers474.
DCD took the initiative to bring Jasoos Vijay to the national channel on prime
time slot. This marked the commercial success of Jasoos Vijay. Talking about the
experience of bringing a social message-centered show on prime time television,
Usha Bhasin475, founder Director of DCD said: “That was the first (development
communication) programme slotted on prime time. I had to give an undertaking
that we will earn revenue from the slot. The programme was marketed, it was a
pure HIV/AIDS programme and it earned revenue. So it was a very good model
for Doordarshan, how it saved money and earned moneyand it had quality
programming.”
Jasoos Vijay was a commercial success and enjoyed high ratings during its run. It
was awarded as ‘Thriller of the Year’ at the 2003 Indian Telly Awards. The
programme tried to address issues of care and treatment of those living with the
virus. It had a unique concept wherein viewers were invited to attempt to nail the
474
Wikipedia article http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasoos_Vijay
475
Personal interview with Usha Bhasin, Founder Director, Development Communication
Division
174
culprit before Vijay does. There were prizes for the best answers which included a
chance for the viewer to appear on the show and name his or her suspects476.
• Kalyani – ‘Kalyani’ was launched on behalf of the Ministry of Health and

Family Welfare in May 2002. It was launched to create awareness on malaria,
HIV/AIDS, cancer, tuberculosis, Iodine deficiency, tobacco related and water
borne diseases. In subsequent years other health issues such as leprosy,
blindness’ control and food safety were also added477. Usha Bhasin478
described Kalyani as a “multi-layered communication strategy”. In its
fourteenth year now, Kalyani rechristened as Swastha Bharat is India’s longest
running health campaign.
In the case of Kalyani, Doordarshan’s staff experimented with new formats –

interactive shows, creative plays and integrated approach by setting up of the
Kalyani health clubs in different states. Kalyani clubs have sprung up in various
parts of the country to spread the message of good health. Such clubs involve
membership of local people who watch the programme avidly and strategize on
how to implement health messages. The concept of Kalyani Clubs was a crucial
part of the communication strategy (indiantelevision.com, 2008)479.
The show was named as the “News Show of the Year” by the Malaria Foundation
International. It was also selected by the Asian Media Information
Communication Centre (AMIC), Singapore as the best communication strategy on
HIV/AIDS from India (ibid)480.The campaign has been expanded to 21 states in
13 languages and 17 dialects481.
The show has contributed immensely to the cause of building awareness and
removing stigma around HIV/AIDS. The Kalyani teams reached out to HIV
476
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jasoos_Vijay
477
478
479
Indiantelevision.com (July 28, 2008). DD’s Kalyani wins ‘News Show of the Year’ Award.
Retrieved from http://www.indiantelevision.org.in/headlines/y2k8/july/july288.php
480
Ibid
481
175
positive patients in remote areas of the country and offered new hope. The team
members made friends with people living with HIV/AIDS in an attempt to dispel
fears and myths about the disease. In one particular case from Orissa, Kalyani
anchors were able to convince villagers that HIV does not spread through touch or
by eating together. The patient held his daughter for the first time and the entire
episode was telecast (Hindustan Times, 2006)482.
• Jaago Grahak Jaago (Wake up Consumers) – DCD initiated a multi-media

campaign ‘Jaago Grahak Jaago’ for the Department of Consumer Affairs to
generate awareness on consumer rights. This included a programme by the
same name, which apprised consumers of the tricks used by mischievous
traders, businessmen and service providers to cheat them. In addition, it
comprised of public service spots with messages on consumer awareness483.
• Paisa Hamara Faisla Hamara – The Department of Company Affairs,

Ministry of Finance commissioned a campaign to DCD called ‘Paisa Hamara
Faisla Hamara’ on investor awareness and education. It was an interactive
phone-in programme with investors at one end and experts at the other. The
programme focused on themes such as safe investments, companies where
investments should be avoided, difficulties faced by investors, agencies for
redressal of grievances and rights of investors484.
The Development Communication Division has been credited with reviving in-house
production in Doordarshan. All the initiatives discussed above have been in-house
productions. In the year 2007-08 alone DCD produced 1012 new programmes485.
Present Director of the Development Communication Division, Ranjan P. Thakur
believes that Doordarshan’s pan-India presence makes it a natural choice for
ministries intending to take development messages to all corners of the country486.
482
Mohapatra, Satyen (October 08, 2006). Doordarshan helps HIV patient stay positive.
Hindustan Times.Retrieved on May 06, 2014 from http://www.hindustantimes.com/
483
484
Ibid
485
486
176
According to him, success has been achieved due to factors such as presence in every
state capital, ability to bring in local experts, and knowledge of local conditions. This
is crucial in health communication since diseases that are prevalent in a particular
region or state could be very different from other states. He believes DCD will
continue to play a pivotal role in reaching people across the country with social
messages.
Usha Bhasin487 described the DCD experiment as a turnaround for Doordarshan

where the same workforce who are considered redundant in today’s competitive
media world produced high quality public service programming. Taking cue from
Jasoos Vijay (the detective thriller with an HIV/AIDS message), she claimed that
education and entertainment can be combined and there is no contradiction between
the two.
The success of the Development Communication Division in doing quality public

service programmes is also attributed to the way it was managed and steered. DCD
placed emphasis on skill upgradation of its staff from the very beginning. Workshops
were conducted every year for the purpose of training and quality monitoring. There
were pre-production, preview as well as review workshops488.
However, some respondents claimed that despite high quality, audiences would not
come to Doordarshan merely for a development communication programme. They
suggested that there should be quality entertainment programmes so that viewers stay
on the channel for long enough. Ranjan P. Thakur questioned489: “Why would
somebody watch me only for DCD programming? We need to have dance, glamour,
glitter everything. What if your terrestrial consumer switches over to satellite? He
should stay on to you, he is aspirational, give him a good mix of entertainment and
education then he will come back to you. You can only give a subtle message across
not a crude one.”
487
488
As told by Usha Bhasin, founder Director – DCD
489
177
7.9 Narrowcasting
Narrowcasting has traditionally been understood as the dissemination of information

to a narrow audience; not to the broader public at-large. With a view to provide area
specific information on agriculture, a pilot project was started by Doordarshan in
2002 and was implemented in 18 states. Following successful implementation of this
concept, it was decided to extend the project to other parts of the country. A proposal
for the same was sent to the Planning Commission which was approved. The centrally
sponsored project ‘Mass Media Support to Agriculture Extension’ was then
introduced in January 2004490.
Under this project, programmes are conceptualized and designed by experts of

agriculture, horticulture, veterinary sciences, fisheries, etc. They deal with aspects
such as specificities of different crops, success stories of farmers, weather reports,
Kisaan credit card, agriculture news bulletins and Mandi bhav bulletins (market
prices), and publicity of minimum support price (MSP)491.
Weekly live phone-in programmes are telecast in which farmers from respective
states/regions (narrowcasting zone) ask questions and experts provide solutions to
them. Information on weather is provided by Agro-Meteorological Division of Indian
Meteorology Department on its website. The respective kendras492 then download this
information and incorporate it in their bulletins493.
The date-wise programme schedule of respective production centers is uploaded on a

portal (www.dacnet.nic.in/csms) so that extension workers receive advance
information about the programmes that would be telecast each day.
ADG (Engineering) H.K. Wadhwa494 elaborated on the technical aspects of

narrowcasting. Low power transmitters or LPTs are used for narrowcasting. The idea
490
As told by H.K. Wadhwa, ADG, Engineering (2013) & data from Prasar Bharati Annual
Reports
491
492
Regional stations of Doordarshan are called Kendras
493
Ibid
494
Personal interview with H.K. Wadhwa, ADG Engineering, (2013)
178
was to produce local area specific programming in agriculture since agricultural
conditions differ from location to location. All programmes under narrowcasting are
produced at the local Doordarshan kendras. More than 180 LPTs are used for this
localized transmission. A half-an-hour slot is given for the programmes. The LPTs
have a coverage area of 20 kilometers enabling highly specific localized
programming.
7.10 DD Bharati
DD Bharati was launched on January 26, 2002 as an art & culture; health; and
children focused channel. It was supposed to be the second public service arm of
Doordarshan after DD National(Annual Report, 2005-06)495.
The broad contours of its programming are as follows:

Health – The health segment carries programmes on yoga, meditation, aerobics,
alternative systems of medicine, and other aspects of healthcare relevant to everyday
life.
Children – DD Bharati offers daily programmes for children and youth (age group of
6-18 years). These include animation, quiz shows, wildlife films, science films, and
career counseling sessions, among others.
Art & Culture – The channel focuses on literature, theatre, art, crafts, paintings,
sculpture, and classical dance and music. Cultural heritage such as monuments and
places of historical and religious importance as well as works of eminent poets and
writers are also featured (Annual Report, 2007-08)496.
In addition, cultural festivals are covered live on the channel. Examples include
events such as Tansen Samaroh at Gwalior, Khajuraho Dance Festival at Madhya
Pradesh, Drum Festival at Tura, Thyagraj Festival - Tamilnadu, Music Festival at
Pune, and Heritage Festival in Kapurthala (Punjab) among others497.
495
496
497
Prasar Bharati (2009 & 2010). Annual Report 2008-09, 2009-10. Prasar Bharati. New Delhi
179
DD Bharati procures programmes from the regional kendras as well. In addition, the
channel has a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with government agencies such
as IGNOU, IGNCA and NCERT. Documentaries sourced from PSBT are also shown
on DD Bharati. The Central Commissioning Unit at New Delhi which acquires and
produces software for DD National, meets the software requirements of this niche
channel as well498.
Ashok Jailkhani499 feels that Doordarshan is the only channel that offers a platform to
classical music and dance, as well as to folk art forms through forums such as DD
Bharati. Media critic Shailaja Bajpai500 agreed that DD Bharati is indeed doing a
public service by catering to small minorities of audience who want to watch classical
music or a Khajuraho Dance Festival; programmes which despite their cultural
significance have limited prospects for commercial gain.
Bajpai conceded that there is a vacuum as far as creating good cultural content in
concerned. None of the private channels with profit motives are going to be interested
in providing niche content such as this. She expressed that the quality of such
programmes on DD need improvement.
Dr. S.Y. Quraishi501 who was DG Doordarshan during the launch of DD Bharati
recollected that the channel always suffered from shortage of funds. Further, no
commercial entity was interested in supporting the channel since it catered to a niche
audience. Nevertheless, he feels the channel enjoys a limited but committed
viewership.
One particular show that was appreciated was “Meri Baat”. It was an hour-long live
show for the youth. The show discussed a wide spectrum of events related with
children’s and young persons' lives. Students and parents participating in the
498
Ibid
499
500
501
180
programme interact with the panelists, comprising eminent persons, including
educationists and psychologists502.
Eventually, five definite segments evolved from the show. These were:
• Nai Dishayen Nai Manzilein – This was an academic guidance programme
targeting higher education and career counseling for school students.
• Aamne Saamne – A public debate on issues concerning the lives of young
people.
• Meri Baat Sabki Baat – Aimed at forming a general opinion on current affairs
which affect the youth.
• Baatein Padhai Ki – An academic helpline for students, where experienced
subject experts answered student queries.
• Baaton Baaton Mein – Another interactive session for developing life skills,
value education, parenting and handling behavioural difficulties.
(Source: indiantelevision.com)503
The concept of Meri Baat emerged when Doordarshan held a brainstorming session
with representatives of schools, for creating meaningful software for children. The
public broadcaster offered DD Bharati as a platform and Delhi Public School society
developed the creative inputs in consultation with DD’s programme personnel. The
production was done in-house (ibid).
7.11 DD Urdu
DD Urdu was launched on 15th August, 2006 initially for a shorter transmission
period which was extended to make the channel 24x7 from November 14, 2007. The
mandate of the channel is ‘to inform and educate the Urdu speaking marginalized
section of society with a view to give them a sense of equal participation in nation
building’504.
502
As told by S.Y. Quraishi and data from Prasar Bharati Annual Report 2006-07.
503
Indiantelevision.com (August 30, 2002). DD Bharati’s talk show ‘Meri Baat’ completes
100 episodes. Retrieved on January 10, 2014 from www.indiantelevision.org.in
504
181
In the early years, DD Urdu struggled with programme acquisition efforts. In 2007,
the channel entered into a MoU505 with the Maulana Azad National Urdu University,
Hyderabad whereby it started providing daily one hour software. The programmes
were to focus on education, heritage and infotainment506. In 2009, efforts were made
to invite applications from top class producers in different genres to improve
quality507.
It was also proposed to link major and authentic Urdu centres at the national level like
Aligarh Muslim University, Jamia Millia Islamia, Usmania University, Maulana Azad
National Urdu University, Khuda Baksh Library and other major Urdu Academies in
India508.
The channel airs Urdu news bulletins, fiction programmes and in-house programmes.
The channel gives space to important cultural events, fiction shows on works of Urdu
literature, and ghazals and poetry-based programmes among others.
7.12 Screening of Public Service Documentaries
For production of documentaries on various public service themes, Prasar Bharati

entered into an agreement with a not-for-profit organization, Public Service
Broadcasting Trust (PSBT). These documentaries produced by independent
filmmakers are telecast on DD National every Saturday at 9 am under the title Open
Frame (Prasar Bharati Annual Reports)509.
PSBT aspires to ensure that these programmes are produced to international

production standards. PSBT follows two commissioning cycles each year. In the first
cycle, proposals are invited on themes related to public cultures, hidden knowledge,
and transforming events. In the second, it explores contemporary predicaments and
505
Memorandum of Understanding
506
507
DD Urdu website
http://www.ddindia.gov.in/About%20DD/DD%20Urdu/Documents/6b3560b6c1c14a128dcba
21834848e21DDURDU.pdf
508
509
Prasar Bharati (2007, 2008 & 2009). Annual Report 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09. Prasar
Bharati. New Delhi.
182
opportunities that have confronted the privileged and middle-class urban individuals,
families, and communities due to the accelerating processes of change (Banerjee &
Seneviratne, 2005, p. 30)510.
Thus, it can be concluded that even today Doordarshan continues to engage in

information and education-oriented programming. Telecast of some such programmes
have shifted from the national channel to other niche channels such as DD Bharati or
consigned to specific slots such as narrowcasting. Analysis reveals that all new
initiatives in public service programming have had to find external sponsors (other
ministries, special funds from Planning Commission) for funding.
Success of the Development Communication Division shows that substantial and

reliable funding is a pre-requisite for doing high quality public service programming.
However, most new initiatives are funded by government agencies. Doordarshan’s
own corpus is woefully inadequate to support such programming on a regular basis.
This could be a cause of concern as funding agencies (in this case the government)
will have their own agenda in doing some programmes at the cost of others. As critics
of the Development Communication approach say, this may lead to misuse of the
public broadcaster for doing only those ‘development programmes’ which the State
deems fit. Anything outside the radar of government induced development projects or
priorities are unlikely to be taken up.
Herman & Mc Chesney (2001)511 documented the influence of sponsors over

programming priorities in the United States of America. They stated that maturing of
commercial broadcasting substitutes entertainment for public service. The authors
documented examples from the US which showed that with the advent of commercial
sponsorship of programmes, serious programming, documentaries or anything though
could evoke controversy saw a decline. Environmental series in particular never found
any sponsor.
510
Banerjee, I., & Seneviratne, K. (Eds.) (2005).PublicService Broadcasting: A Best Practices
Sourcebook. Singapore: UNESCO.
511
Herman, E.S., & Mc Chesney, R.W. (2001).The Global Media: the new missionaries of
Corporate Capitalism. London: Continuum.
183
7.13 Entertainment Programmes on Doordarshan: 1984-2009
Doordarshan claims its mandate is to provide information, education and

entertainment to the masses. As noted earlier, entertainment programmes on
Doordarshan rose to prominence in overall schedule with the launch of the ‘National
Programme’ in 1982.
This arrangement ensured that at 8 pm all regional kendras stopped transmitting their
own programmes and started relaying the National Programme. The National
Programme ended at 11.30 pm and that is when all kendras went off the air (Ghose,
2005)512. It was conceived to promote a feeling of unity in the country by virtue of
everyone watching the same television content every night. However, its reception
had consequences quite opposite to what was intended. Instead of uniting people, it
led to a great deal of resentment amongst the people especially in the non-Hindi
speaking states (Mehta, 2008)513. The national programmes were in Hindi and were
produced by the Delhi Doordarshan Kendra.
The Working Group on Software for Doordarshan popularly known as the Joshi
Committee Report had acknowledged that the National Programme promoted a
‘Delhi-centric view of India’ especially through its news bulletins. The Committee
had noted: “the prevailing concept of a ‘national programme’ is to put together a
number of regional programmes which are largely unintelligible to viewers outside
the region concerned.” It had remarked that what is unintelligible cannot be called
communication. The Committee had therefore recommended that programmes should
be para-dubbed to audiences if it is not in the language they speak (Joshi Committee
Report, 1985)514.
Entertainment programming was introduced on a large scale for the first time during
the early 1980s. This happened because of two major developments:
(a) Advent of commercials
(b) Commissioning of programmes to independent producers (Mehta, 2008)515.
512
513
514
Joshi Committee Report (1985).
515
Mehta, Nalin (2008).
184
One of the first major entertainment programmes on Doordshan was Hum Log. As
mentioned earlier, it was the first serious attempt to blend entertainment with social
values through television drama (Ninan, 1995)516. The immediate inspiration for such
an experiment had come from Mexico, where television soap operas were used to
convey, very subtly, messages about the benefits of small families, the misery that
afflicts large families living on a small income, the better quality of care received by
children in small families and so on. Mexico, being a predominantly Roman Catholic
nation; family planning was a sensitive subject and could not be advocated publicly
on television (Ghose, 2005)517. Hence, the route to deliver subtle indirect messages
was found in soap operas.
Manohar Shyam Joshi wrote the script for Hum Log. As mentioned earlier, it was
sponsored by Nestle India. The serial became so popular that eventually the producers
gave up all pretensions of carrying any social message and plain entertainment
became the focus. Hum Log was followed by other serials which also reaped profits
for their producers (Mehta, 2008; Ninan, 1995; Ghose, 2005)518.
The first in line was Buniyaad a historical soap opera based on the partition of India
and creation of Pakistan in 1947. The 1980s also saw the two mythological epics of
Hinduism Ramayana and Mahabharata being serialized for television. Together these
two mythological serials became the highest money-spinners for Doordarshan in the
1980s (Mehta, 2008)519. At the same time, their telecast also became controversial
when they were accused of contributing to the revival of fundamentalist Hindu
politics culminating in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Ayodhya movement (Mehta, 2008;
Ninan, 1995)520.
516
Ninan, S. (1995). Through the Magic Window: Television and Change in India. New Delhi:
Penguin.
517
518
Mehta, Nalin (2008); Ninan, S (1995) & Ghose, Bhaskar (2005).
519
520
Mehta, Nalin (2008) &Ninan, S. (1995). Through the Magic Window: Television and
Change in India. New Delhi: Penguin).
185
Some of the other popular serials of this period were: Khandaan, Nukkad, Kakaji
Kahin and Byomkesh Bakshi521. Producer Saeed Mirza made Nukkad. The serial was
nothing but groups of people sitting together in a corner of the street gossiping,
exchanging stories and around that whole set of stories were built522. Byomkesh
Bakshi was a thriller based on the fictional detective in Bengali literature by
Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. Basu Chatterjee produced the television adaptation of
this series. Actor Rajit Kapur played the role of Byomkesh Bakshi, for which he was
highly appreciated523.
Another celebrated serial of this period was Tamas produced by Govind Nihlani. It
was a poignant and powerful tale of the violence of Partition and how it affected a
simple man’s life. ‘It showed the gruesome side of politics and the compassionate side
of humanity that survives any carnage’ (Ghose, 2005)524.
Rajani produced by the filmmaker Basu Chatterjee was another serial that won the
hearts of many people525. The actress playing the lead role of Rajani – Priya
Tendulkar became a household name. The protagonist of the show Rajani was shown
as a crusading housewife who was trying to fight the corrupt and inept civic system.
The show reflected the state of affairs at government offices in the mid-1980s. Rajani,
the crusader would come in to set things right for people526.
Former DG Rathikant Basu acknowledged the contribution of serials such as Rajani

and Hum Log which delivered powerful social messages while entertaining people.
Author Vanita Kohli-Khandekar527says that combining social messages with
entertainment is the best way to bring social change. She argued that programmes
with social messages need not be preachy and boring. Such programmes, according to
her, must be entertaining as due to the proliferation of private networks, the viewer
can easily shift to another channel at the click of a button.
521
As told by Basharat Ahmed, former DDG (Programming)
522
As told by Bhaskar Ghose during personal interview with respondent.
523
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Byomkesh_Bakshi
524
525
As told by Bhaskar Ghose and Rathikant Basu during personal interviews.
526
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Rajani_(TV_series)
527
Personal interview with media columnist and author Vanita Kohli-Khandekar
186
7.14 Entertainment in the decade of 1990s
If the decade of 1980s paved the way for entertainment as the dominant theme of
television, the 1990s saw such trends getting further strengthened. A host of private
entertainment channels entered the fray. Doordarshan had to face competition for the
first time and therefore, introduced a slew of changes in its programming strategies,
which are discussed here.
In the 1990s, it was serials galore on Doordarshan. Some of the big hits of this decade
were:
Historical - The Sword of Tipu Sultan, The Great Maratha
Religious serials – Shri Krishna, Jai Hanuman, and Om Namah Shivay
Fantasy serials – the very popular Shaktimaan
Family serials – Shanti, Hum Raahi and Udaan
Source: Singhal & Rogers (2001).528
Most of these serials were extremely popular, attracted large audiences and generated
good amount of advertising revenue. Some of Doordarshan’s entertainment serials of
this time dealt with social issues, these are described below, in detail.
Udaan – Considered to be one of the first television shows on the theme of women
empowerment, Udaan appeared on DD National in 1989-91. The serial was written
and directed by Kavita Choudhary who also played the main lead. It revolved around
the struggle of a woman who aspired to become an IPS529 officer. It is said that
Udaan was inspired by the true story of IPS Kanchan Choudhary Bhattacharya
(Kavita's elder sister) who became the first female Director General of Police (DGP)
after years of struggle530.
Many people, who faced similar problems, saw their own feelings of inadequacy and
angst mirrored in the protagonist. In those days, very few women used to enter
528
Singhal, A, & Rogers, Everett M. (2001).India’s Communication Revolution: From Bullock
Carts to Cyber Marts. New Delhi: Sage Publications.
529
Indian Police Service
530
Wikipedia article: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Udaan_(TV_series)
187
government services such as IAS or IPS, nevertheless, Udaan was an inspiring story
that helped changed many a mindset531.
Humraahi – This serial began its telecast in 1991. It dealt with issues of widow
remarriage, equality of women, status of women, and right age of marriage of girls
and so on. Evaluation studies conducted later revealed that people felt the themes
featured were relevant for them as well as reflected prevailing social issues. There
was evidence that people had absorbed and responded to four social issues
consciously tackled in Humraahi: widow remarriage, status of women, child
marriage, and early motherhood. On widow remarriage the acceptance was universal.
The evils of child marriage were also registered but people expressed their
helplessness to bring about change in this area (Ninan, 1995)532.
Shanti – An immensely popular serial of this decade was Shanti. It was aired on DD
National in 1994. Mandira Bedi played the lead role of Shanti – a journalist and a
daughter seeking revenge for the wrongs her father had committed upon the mother.
Shanti was a daily soap shown in the afternoon slot on Doordarshan, a slot that
continues to focus on women. The serial showed a new kind of woman who was not a
passive victim of circumstances but displays agency and courage (Chakravarti,
2000)533. Women strongly identified with the character of a wronged woman seeking
revenge by humiliating the father.
Chauraha – It was another development soap opera. Chauraha appeared on DD

National in 1992 and sought to encourage TV-led literacy in the country. The serial
carried messages on issues such as care of the girl child, early marriage, and evils of
dowry practice, among others. Evaluation studies showed that the programme had a
definitive impact in terms of increasing awareness on aspects such as legal age of
531
Pinkvilla.com (April 22, 2014). 12 Doordarshan Serials from the 80s and 90s we would like
to watch again. Retrieved on May 01, 2014 from http://www.pinkvilla.com/trending/tv-
serials/11-doordarshan-serials-80s-90s-wed-watch-again
532
Ninan, S. (1995). Through the Magic Window: Television and Change in India. New Delhi:
Penguin.
533
Chakravarti, Uma (2000). State, Market and Freedom of Expression: Women and
Electronic Media. Economic and Political Weekly, Vol. 35(18), April 29, 2000.
188
marriage for girls and family planning methods. Female literacy had risen sharply;
and women began to use iodized salt and oral rehydration therapy (Ninan, 1995)534.
The important lesson learnt was that television could bring some kind of change but
not others. It was easier to change attitudes and behaviour in areas such as health and
hygiene but when it came to entrenched social practices that concerned a woman’s
life, television couldn’t bring significant attitudinal shift.
Thus, it can be said that some of the entertainment shows on Doordarshan during this
period carried important messages of social and behavioural change. However, media
academicians and observers have noted that over a period of time the entertainment
function assumed predominance over everything. This is explored in greater detail in
the next chapter.
7.15 DD Metro
One of the key programming decisions taken at this time was the introduction of a
second channel known as DD2 or DD Metro (since the initial reception was limited to
the four metros). It was conceived as a light entertainment channel. DD Metro
presented interesting fare to compete with the private channels. It was initially made
available to the four metropolitan cities through a microwave link but was soon
available in other cities as well.
At one point of time, DD Metro was on the verge of collapse; that is when DG
Rathikant Basu and other staff members made desperate efforts to save the channel.
Not only were they able to save the channel but also able to script a turnaround within
a few months’ time. They used a variety of methods including new logos, slicker
presentation of programmes with computerized switching from one programme to
advertisements to another programme, and so on (Ghose, 2005)535.
534
Ninan, S (1995).
535
189
Basharat Ahmed536 who was working closely with DD Metro at this stage brimmed
with excitement at the mention of results Metro brought in. He said: “there were
waves because of Metro, it was becoming so popular.” It also started generating more
and more revenue for the channel. That led to more experiments on the Metro
channel. “The more it (DD Metro) started generating revenue, the more experiments
we started doing. We initially gave five minutes of commercial time in half-an-hour
which was never done, we did it. We put live fashion shows; gave slots to MTV and
ESPN. We were doing the first musical countdown Superhit Muqabla. The biggest
producers were working with us.”
On being asked whether it amounted to copying the strategy of private channels

which were unabashedly entertainment driven, Ahmed disagreed. He said that DD
Metro did not exactly emulate private channels such as Zee or Star by focusing
exclusively on mass entertainment; rather he feels DD Metro gave a better thought to
entertainment programming.
Former DG Rathikant Basu537 agreed that attempts to revive DD Metro were dictated
by larger concerns of revenue earning. He said: “Since revenue became an important
consideration, it led to more and more entertainment programming on Doordarshan.
That is the same time we launched DD Metro, which was purely dedicated to
entertainment. No news or informational content but entertainment.”
However, he feels that the kind of entertainment DD produced was more wholesome
than the present crop of Saas-Bahu soaps running on private channels. He held that
DD Metro’s programming was fairly clear of negativity. He also mentioned the
presence of two independently produced news bulletins which were appreciated for
their credible news coverage.
Some of the popular shows on DD Metro included Junoon, Shriman Shrimati, Tu Tu

Main Main, Dekh Bhai Dekh, Zabaan Sambhaal Ke, Superhit Muqabla, and Alif
Laila. Commenting on the popularity of these shows, Basharat Ahmed538 remarked:
536
Personal interview with respondent.
537
538
190
“We were showing Dekh Bhai Dekh and Zabaan Sambhaal Ke back to back. When
we separated the two, there were complaints from the audience. They wanted to watch
one full-hour of comedy. It became a big success.”
The next major initiative to revamp entertainment programming was taken in the year
2000 when DD partnered with Nine Gold. It leased a three-hour slot on DD Metro for
Rs. 1.21 billion to HFCL-Nine Broadcasting for a year (Khandekar, 2013)539. Nine
Gold is an Australian-owned software company. They were given a slot on the
primetime (7–10 p.m.) daily on DD Metro.
Former CEO, Prasar Bharati, R.R. Shah540, the brainchild of this experiment noted:
“We used this (Nine Gold) slot to compete with private entertainment channels. In
this slot we gave high quality content and packaging. There was good quality
production. We got Raveena Raj Kohli from Sony as the programme CEO for our
Nine Gold Slot. These were the golden hours on DD Metro. The Nine Gold
experiment left Zee and Sony behind (in terms of ratings) within three months. The
only player ahead of us was Star Plus; they got KBC at that time. But we gave tough
competition to them at that time.”
Commenting on success of the Nine Gold slot, Khandekar (2013)541 observes that for
the first time in more than five years, DD began to make inroads into the lucrative
cable and satellite homes with very good ratings for some of its programmes.
However, Doordarshan refused to renew the contract in 2001 and the partnership
ended. Acknowledging that it was a bad decision, R.R. Shah542 conceded: “I think we
overestimated ourselves, we thought we could do without Nine Gold. That wasn’t
possible.”
The channel DD Metro, too, could not sustain for long. Its revenue earnings were
dropping considerably. In 2003, DD Metro was closed to pave way for a 24-hour
539
Khandekar, Vanita Kohli (2013). The Indian Media Business. New Delhi: Sage
Publications.
540
Personal interview with R.R. Shah, CEO, Prasar Bharati
541
Khandekar, Vanita Kohli (2013). The Indian Media Business. New Delhi: Sage
Publications.
542
191
news channel. DD News was launched on November 3, 2003 by converting DD
Metro into a 24-hours news channel543.
Bhaskar Ghose categorised this as “one of the most foolish decisions” that makers of
programme policy ever made in Doordarshan. He writes in Doordarshan Days that
Metro was a light entertainment channel doing exceedingly well in fulfilling that role.
There were serials, talk shows, music and disco shows, quiz programmes and others
to provide healthy entertainment to all. It was also bringing in much needed revenue
to Doordarshan (Ghose, 2005, p. 227)544. According to him, the arbitrary decision to
shut down DD Metro made matters worse for Doordarshan.
Some respondents, however, claimed that DD Metro had begun taking away
audiences from DD National thereby reducing revenue prospects of the flagship
channel. As Ashok Jailkhani545 explained the maximum revenue for Doordarshan
comes from DD National. “So when Metro became very popular, it was eating into
the revenue of DD National. That is also something we have to see whether
competition from in-house channels affects the flagship channel.”
The Shunu Sen Committee (2001)546 while highlighting the need for clear and distinct
channel positioning had recommended for DD Metro that it should be positioned
“clearly and without any ambiguity as the DD Entertainment Channel.” It was
advocated to be run both as a terrestrial and satellite channel. The committee had
brought to notice the importance of seeing this channel not just as a major revenue
earner for Prasar Bharati, but as a channel which would have provided a large
audience base amongst the urban middle class. It had also sounded warning bells by
acknowledging that Metro was on the verge of becoming a “minority channel”
amongst cable and satellite viewers (Sen Committee Report, 2001, pp.19-20).
543
As told by Chetan Vyas, former Deputy Director (Programmes), Doordarshan
544
545
546
Shunu Sen Committee Report (2001).
192
In recent times, Doordarshan’s programming has not been much talked about neither
in the media nor in academia. The focus here is to discuss some significant recent
initiatives in entertainment programming.
7.16 The Classics Scheme
An initiative was started in 2003 to make programmes based on Indian literature

classics. It started as a pilot project between 2003 and 2007. Planning Commission
allocated separate funds for the same. Classics from 15 Indian regional languages
were selected. In 2003, 1500 hours of programming were made based on the literature
classics. In 2006, nearly 700 half hour episodes were produced in 15 languages from
23 kendras (Annual Report, 2006-07)547.
In this scheme, Doordarshan used to decide the subject. They had formed language-
wise committees to select the classics based on which programme were to be made. It
was then commissioned to private producers. The scheme on Indian Classics helped
in attracting established and well-known artists and directors towards television.
Basharat Ahmed548 mentioned that besides commissioning work in the Indian Classics
scheme, they were given liberty to produce in-house as well. According to him, some
in-house productions were also done during this time. Programmes were made on
well-known classics of literature by authors such as Prem Chand, Rabrindranath
Tagore, Bhisham Sahni, among others.
These programmes were given a weekly slot titled ‘Katha Sarita’ at 9.30 p.m. on DD
National. Besides, these programmes were also shown on DD Bharati, DD India, DD
Urdu, and the regional services. Eminent producers such as Adoor Gopalakrishnan,
Muzaffar Ali, Gulzar, Amol Palekar, Basu Chatterjee, Girish Karnad, Sai Pranjpe, and
Gautam Ghosh among many others produced the literary classic programmes549.
547
548
549
Prasar Bharati (2007, 2008, 2009 & 2010). Annual Report 2006-07, 2007-08, 2008-09 &
2009-10. Prasar Bharati. New Delhi
193
In May 2007, a 30-episode series ‘Gitanjali – a Tribute to Tagore’ based on Hindi
version of Tagore songs were telecast on DD National. The objective of the
programme was to introduce Rabindra Sangeet (Tagore songs) to Hindi speaking
audiences550.
Former DG, Tripurari Sharan551 described this as wonderful initiative showcasing rich
classics as narrative films on Doordarshan. He added that content such, as this would
never be treated with importance by the private channels especially at the national
level. He indicated that some of these classics got a very good response from the
audience.
7.17 Regional language channels
By the year 2009, there were eleven regional language satellite channels. These are
listed in the table 7.4.
Table 7.4 Regional channels of Doordarshan

S. No. Name of Language Year of launch
Channel
1. DD Malayalam Malayalam 1994
2. DD Odiya Oriya 1994
3. DD Saptagiri Telugu 1993
4. DD Sahyadri Marathi 1994
5. DD Podhigai Tamil 2000
6. DD Bangla Bengali 1992
7. DD Chandana Kannada 1994
8. DD Girnar Gujarati
9. DD Kashir Kashimri+local 2000
dialects
10. DD North-East Assamese 1994
11. DD Punjabi Punjabi 1988
Source: Annual Report, Prasar Bharati (2009-10)552
550
551
552
194
The story of regional channels has been a glorious one for Doordarshan. Doordarshan
was and even today to a large extent is a sum total of a number of television centres or
the regional kendras as they are known. Ghose (2005)553 argued that before the
coming of satellite revolution and the ‘National Programme’ of DD, the kendras were
the focal point of television in their respective states, sometimes in an area greater
than just the state (Ghose, 2005, p. 135).
Some of the centres that came up early in DD’s history such as the ones at Bombay
(now Mumbai), Madras (now Chennai), Jalandhar and Calcutta (now Kolkata) had
made a mark in doing quality programming. In these centres, television attracted a
wealth of creative talent from the performing arts. Theatre, dance and music
programmes abounded in televisions schedules, much of it by distinguished artistes,
musicians and playwrights (ibid).
Commenting on the contribution of Doordarshan’s regional kendras in sustaining

local art and culture, B.G. Verghese554 remarked: “DD at one point of time was the
biggest concert, the biggest theatre, all the great names were there on Doordarshan.”
Many respondents also claimed that people working in the kendras had much more
freedom in planning and producing their content by virtue of being away from the
headquarters. Basharat Ahmed555 explained: “What a producer was enjoying for a
long time in a regional centre or kendra was that in making a programme he was more
or less independent. He would pick up talent, decide about it; director would approve
the script, the producer would then produce the programme as creatively as possible.
There was no interference.”
Till 1982, the different kendras were not linked. Hence, there was no direct
connectivity between the regional kendras and the Delhi centre. All of this changed
with the coming of satellite transmission and launch of the ‘National Programme’ as
has been discussed earlier.
553
554
555
195
Hence, at the appointed time every evening – 8 p.m. – the kendras stopped
transmitting their own programmes and started relaying the National Programme. It
went on till 11.30 p.m. every night. Former DG Bhaskar Ghose556 felt that this
decision had a debilitating impact on the kendras. He noted: “As a result of the
National Programme, the kendras lost the all important prime time. They could only
function from 5 p.m. to 8 p.m. The kendra’s importance began to decline. They were
converted almost overnight from being centres of creative programming into relay
stations. They had some original programmes but between 5-8 p.m., there is not much
viewing.”
This demoralising effect on the kendras was overturned in the 1990s with the help of
technology. On August 15, 1994, DD launched ten satellite channels offering
vernacular language programming. The arrangement was simply to covert the
regional stations of Doordarshan to continue broadcast after 8 p.m. as satellite
channels. Till 8 p.m. the regional kendra content was screened both by terrestrial and
satellite, after 8 p.m. it was available only in the satellite mode557. The regional
language satellite channels could be obtained through the local cable operator; hence
even if somebody residing outside his native state wanted to view programmes in his
regional language, he could subscribe to these satellite channels.
Rathikant Basu558 who spearheaded this effort as DG Doordarshan said that the
creation of round the clock language channels completely revolutionised television
viewing. It took television out of the Hindi-belt and prompted private entrepreneurs
towards producing regional content. He gave example of the southern states where
strong players such as Eenadu have emerged.
556
557
558
196
Narayan (2014)559 based on her research of Indian television channels covering 1990-
2010, argued that private broadcasters have overtaken Doordarshan even in the sphere
of regional language content. She documented that in terms of viewership and
advertising figures, private regional channels have made inroads into DD’s audience.
In many cases such channels (for example Sun TV - in southern states) have eclipsed
DD’s regional language channels. Further, it would appear that in terms of ownership,
audiences, and content, the regional language channels are tilting the power balance
away from the national broadcaster – towards sub-national private entities (Narayan,
2014, p. 161).
Some respondents expressed that regional kendras need more support and attention as
they have been doing real public service broadcasting by providing a platform to
regional and local art and culture. Dr. S.Y. Quraishi560 remarked: “Our regional
kendras are much neglected, we should focus more on them because when we talk
about National we are talking only about Delhi. We are totally Delhi-centric whereas
people in India want localised content in their own language.”
Former News Head, Doordarshan Indira Mansingh561 claimed that in the genre of
news, the regional channels of DD are doing a good job by providing news from all
round the state. Ashok Jailkhani562 said that some regional channels such as DD
Sahyadri (Marathi), DD Punjabi, DD Malayalam and DD Bangla fare well even in
terms of audience ratings. Bhaskar Ghose563, however, feels that the kendras too are
going the National channel way by farming out time to private producers and
sponsors to earn more money thereby reducing their public service content.
The Sen Committee Report acknowledging importance of the regional channels of

DD recommended that these should be considered the primary channel in their
559
Narayan, S.S. (2014). Globalization and Television: A Study of the Indian Experience
1990-2010. New Delhi: Oxford University Press.
560
561
562
563
197
respective state. It further noted that using the terrestrial network to relay
programming in a language not easily comprehended by bulk of the audience (i.e. DD
National – Hindi) represents a case of bad policy. The result of such misplaced focus,
noted the committee is that “private channels, in the regional languages, inspite of
being satellite and cable channels, have appropriated bulk of the audience in almost
all regional languages; as also a major portion of the advertising revenue.” The Sen
Committee, therefore, recommended that major efforts be made to rejuvenate all
regional language channels so that they become the most preferred viewing option in
their respective state564.
7.18 Postscript on Doordarshan’s programming
Based on the analysis presented above, it can be said that while Doordarshan played
an important role in television programming, with the coming of private channels that
role appears to have been diminished. It has also changed Doordarshan’s own
priorities in programme making. Though it has made attempts in the recent past to
revamp its programmes, the results haven’t been impressive barring a few bright spots
such as Kalyani. It has launched initiatives such as DD Bharati, DCD, narrowcasting -
which does represent diverse programming fare that a public broadcaster is supposed
to provide but concerns remain about ‘quality’ of content. Almost all external experts
that this researcher spoke to raised serious concerns with the quality of software on
Doordarshan which according to them is mediocre and non-creative.
Inappropriate commissioning strategies combined with unimaginative in-house

production have ensured that Doordarshan is not the preferred viewing choice for
people. Data from Doordarshan’s audience research wing confirms the same. While
Doordarshan continues to enjoy the number one position in viewership in total
households (rural) i.e. combining terrestrial, cable and satellite, and DD’s own DTH
service households, its ratings fall sharply in cable and satellite households.
564
198
Table 7.5 Channel Viewership – All India (Rural)* - January 2009
S.No. Channel Viewership (in
percentage)
1. DD National 33.02
2. DD Regional 18.53
3. Zee TV 15.20
4. Star Plus 14.22
5. Star Utsav 13.49
6. Sony 12.33
7. Sun TV 12.00
8. Star Gold 10.16
9. Podhigai 8.62
10. Zee Cinema 7.42
*{includes terrestrial, cable & satellite, and DD-Direct Plus households)
Source: DART Combined Report, Audience Research Unit, Doordarshan565
Table 7.6: Channel Viewership: All India (Rural) - Cable and Satellite households* –
January 2009
S.No. Channel Viewership (in
percentage)
1. Zee TV 29.52
2. Star Plus 27.62
3. Sony 23.31
4. Sun TV 18.86
5. Star Gold 15.49
6. DD Podhigai 14.80
7. Zee Cinema 14.42
8. DD National 13.64
9. Sahara One 13.16
10. Set Max 11.09
*{Excludes terrestrial households}
566
Source: DART Combined Report, Audience Research Unit, Doordarshan
565
Audience Research Unit (2009).DART Combined Report. New Delhi: Doordarshan
566
Audience Research Unit (2009).DART Combined Report. New Delhi: Doordarshan.
199
Thus, it can be seen that in cable and satellite households where people are no longer
restricted to one or two channels, Doordarshan ceases to be a viable option for
spectatorship. Doordarshan’s viewership reduces more than half, from number one, it
slips to the number tenth spot. Private channels occupy the top five spots and their
viewership is more than double that of DD National. Even regional language channels
such as Sun and DD’s own Podhigai (Tamil) channels get more audiences than
Doordarshan’s flagship channel.
While popularity may not be the sole yardstick to evaluate a public broadcaster, the
data presented here is indicative of the fact that DD is the viewing choice only for
those who do not have access to cable and satellite content. The moment people can
opt for cable or satellite based distribution platforms giving access to the myriad
world of private channels, DD ceases to be an option. That says a lot about its
programming. Some respondents voiced similar views on Doordarshan. ADG
Programming, Ranjan P. Thakur567 candidly acknowledged: “Effectively the poorest
of poor, only they are watching DD who cannot afford anything else. It is simply not
relevant.”
A public broadcaster is supposed to provide the benchmark for quality and standards
for others to follow. That certainly hasn’t been the case with Doordarshan in India.
The next section examines possible reasons for the same.
7.19 Analysis of weaknesses in Doordarshan’s programming
Most respondents especially those from the programming wing were extremely
articulate about factors that have made Doordarshan’s programmes insignificant and
substandard. The major reasons as cited by respondents for the present state of affairs
in DD’s programming are discussed below.
• No concern with impact of programming - It has been expressed by some

respondents that Doordarshan’s focus has always been on making programmes but
not so much with the impact of programmes. Former Director, Programming, Ashok
567
200
Ogra568 stated that when DD started, the initial work was commendable. But it failed
to evolve appropriate mechanisms for measuring programme impact and success. He
differentiates success from popularity saying that DD being the only channel till 1990,
either the viewer watched television i.e. Doordarshan or didn’t watch TV. Hence, in
absolute terms there was always an audience. He said: “But we never asked – did the
programme serve the purpose it was meant to? As I said earlier, the focus was on
producing programmes, telecasting programmes, and filling spots, rather than on
content or its quality.”
According to him, programme makers in DD were not bothered with two simple yet
fundamental questions (a) Does anybody watch the programme? (b) What is the
impact? What is the impression of the audience about that programme? That did not
figure at all in DD’s priority. He identifies this as the major reason for Doordarshan
losing out to private channels. Media critic Sevanti Ninan569 voiced similar concerns
saying that most people in Doordarshan are not aware of the kind of messages implicit
in its programming.
An audience research officer570 in Doordarshan stated that this is precisely what their
division ought to do for Doordarshan. It needs to do field research, understand the
needs, tastes and preferences of audiences as well as gauge their socio-economic
profile. According to him, such an exercise will help in making programmes
appropriate for diverse socio-economic groups.
• No innovation in programmes – Some respondents stated that Doordarshan

hasn’t been able to keep pace with new technology and changing trends in
programming. Rathikant Basu571 states that Doordarshan needs to catch up on its
production values and presentation of programmes.
568
Personal interview with Ashok Ogra, former Director (Programmes) Doordarshan & Vice-
President, Discovery Channel (South Asia, 1990s)
569
570
Personal interview with S.K. Sinha, Audience Research Officer, Doordarshan
571
201
Present CEO, Prasar Bharati, Jawhar Sircar572 expressed this eloquently. He said that
for 20 years there has been no new recruitment in Doordarshan. As a result, the
engineering staff of Doordarshan has no knowledge of new technology such as
HDTV573, new media among others. This restricts DD’s ability to respond adequately
to emerging situations and challenges.
Others mentioned that the look and feel of Doordarshan has to change in order to
make it more appealing. It should not appear dull, mediocre and boring which seems
to be the perception amongst many. Brij Bakshi574 feels that Doordarshan’s failure to
come up with new and interesting programme formats have caused part of the
damage. He gave the example of Krishi Darshan – DD’s flagship show for farmers
since 1960s. He said: “We should have changed formats of Krishi Darshan. I used to
be in-charge of the show at one point and I asked why couldn’t we have celebrities for
Krishi Darshan? Why couldn’t we have songs?”
Media scholar Usha Rodrigues575 argued that Doordarshan has always lagged behind
in innovation when it comes to quality programming. She agreed with others that to
an extent DD experiments with new formats but due to poor production they are not
able to get large audiences or even loyal viewers.
Poor production values and standards were described as the most important factors
contributing to DD’s decay by majority of the respondents. Some of its own staff
admitted that a lot needs to be done to improve programming in order to remain
relevant. Media critic Shailaja Bajpai576 said that despite making some relevant and
off-beat shows, DD fails to find an audience since their programmes are no match
when compared to private channels in terms of quality.
Some respondents attributed this to the abysmally low level of funding for
programmes on Doordarshan. Chairman, PSBT Rajiv Mehrotra577 agreed that
572
Personal interview with Jawhar Sircar, CEO, Prasar Bharati
573
High Definition Television
574
575
Personal interview with Prof. Usha M. Rodrigues, media academician
576
577
Personal interview with Rajiv Mehrotra, Managing Trustee, PSBT
202
production values need to be upgraded. He elaborated: “The shoddy production gives
us a sense of the values. So what comes in public consciousness is that it is okay to be
shoddy. Public service broadcasting impacts our consciousness. The production
values have to be superior. There has to be attention to detail.” According to him
Doordarshan doesn’t have to become glamorous like the private channels. It could be
an ordinary entertainment programme but should have the intellectual rigor.
Vijaylashmi Chhabra578 discussed how substandard programming affects the

marketing division when they try to market DD’s airtime. She asserts that
Doordarshan must keep a regular check on quality of programmes so that the shows
do not start losing audience. Sadly though that doesn’t seem to be happening in
Doordarshan as some respondents claimed that once a new scheme (of acquiring
content) is finalized, it is not reviewed for years and constant monitoring of the
scheme does not take place.
Chhabra also elaborated on the need to consistently build the time slots. She said one
good programme couldn’t do the trick. It has to be supported by equally good
programming throughout prime time so that people stay on the channel. She and some
others gave the example of competitor Star Plus that according to them places a lot of
importance on scheduling of programmes.
• Minimal funds for programming – A major cause of concern for

programming in Doordarshan appears to be poor production values and standards as
discussed above. This was often attributed to low budgets allocated for programming.
Most respondents acknowledged that Doordarshan devotes a small part of its revenues
towards programme making. Consequently, its programmes appear dull and
uninspiring.
A Business Standard report in 2012 stated that Prasar Bharati forks out Rs. 300 crore
on software development, a mere one-fifth of the total cost. This is in contrast to
competing broadcasters who spend more than half their expenditure on procuring
software. To make matters worse, it has an upper limit of Rs. 6 lakh for programming
578
Personal interview with Vijaylakshmi Chhabra, former Marketing Head, Doordarshan
203
(per episode). As discussed in the previous chapter, bulk of the costs is used for
running its terrestrial network on to which 20-22 million subscribers are hooked
(Business Standard, 2012)579.
Ranjan P. Thakur580 accepted that their best programme would not be more than Rs.
20 lakhs whereas the minimum that a Star Plus will spend on its programme will be
around Rs. 1 crore. The difference is huge and therefore, he says, that the software on
Doordarshan will never look as good as that of the private channels.
Former news presenter, Sunit Tandon581 elaborated on this: “In government, there is
no appreciation of how much a quality programme will cost both in terms of money
and time. In BBC, some of their best series take months to be made, if it is a special
series it may even take years to complete. Documentaries take three-four months to be
made. And the budgets of such programmes are 10-20 times that of programmes made
here. So it can’t work like that.”
Former Director-General Tripurari Sharan582 believes that it is unfair to compare

DD’s programming with that of the private channels since funds available to the two
for software do not match.
V.K. Jain, ADG (Admin &Finance)583 added that many a times Doordarshan has to
cover mandatory programmes which are not commercially viable. He said: “We have
a national channel in which we sell airtime. But many times we are not able to recover
our cost as we have some mandatory telecasts. For example, if the Prime Minister
goes somewhere we have to cover that. We have to stop all other pre-scheduled
telecasts. That may not be profitable to us still we have to show it. In such telecasts,
we are not even able to recover the opportunity costs.”
579
Das Gupta, S. & Mitra, S. (2012, October 24). Prasar Bharati: Can Sircar turn it around?
The Business Standard. Retrieved on May 02, 2013 from http://www.business-standard.com/
580
581
582
583
Personal interview with V.K. Jain, ADG (Administration & Finance), Doordarshan
204
• Inappropriate systems and procedures – Most respondents observed that
the framework within which programming is created in DD is governmental and
bureaucratic. They claimed that government processes do not appreciate the
difference between buying hardware such as technical equipment and software
acquisition. As mentioned in the previous chapter, Doordarshan is an organization
dominated by the engineering wing. Hence, the procedures used for buying technical
equipment or carrying out physical/construction work are also applied to
programming.
Brij Bakshi584 said that the ‘management by tender’ approach has to be discarded at
the earliest if Doordarshan wants to revive itself. Sunit Tandon585 argued on similar
lines saying that creative works cannot be done by selecting the most inexpensive
production. He explained: “Imagine if you were to ask Saeed Mirza to do a Ramayana
or Mahabharata, or vice-versa if you had asked B.R. Chopra to make a series on
Discovery of India. That wasn’t possible; a B.R. Chopra could not have made a
Discovery of India series the way a Saeed Mirza did it in Bharat ek Khoj. So in
creative works, you cannot match things as per lowest quotation received. You have
to match the personal capabilities of the person, the intellectual capacities of the
person with content.” In addition, he said, the interest, passion and commitment of the
creator has to be looked at. Many other respondents too felt that commissioning of
programmes cannot be done through tenders or quotations. Further, most concluded
that government processes are not best suited to judge creative content.
The Sam Pitroda-led committee too hit out at the tendering and bidding system used
for programming, saying that such processes do not attract the best talent in direction,
screenplay, or scripting586.
V.K. Jain587 observed that decision-making is a tedious process in Doordarshan which

hampers programme production as well as procurement. He noted: “We have to
assess the cost per episode; we do not have huge budgets for shows like the private
584
585
586
Pitroda Committee Report (2014).
587
205
channels do. We run on shoestring budgets for our episodes. Further, we are
answerable to Parliament; we are monitored by government agencies such as the
CAG588. Every decision of ours can be questioned. The amount of money we spend
(on programming) can be questioned by CAG or Parliament so we have to be very
cautious about every expenditure.”
• Lack of vision and foresight – Another issue raised prominently was the lack
of vision when it comes to programming. It was observed by some respondents that
channels are launched without giving much thought and thus, some of them remain
insignificant entities before fading into oblivion. It was also expressed that many a
times these new channels function without adequate staff since no thought was given
to finer aspects while launching them.
The Sen Committee Report (2001) noted the same: “Prasar Bharati operates a large
number of radio and TV channels. While some have a clear definition, target
audience, and positioning, others seem to have no clear identity. Moreover, some
channels not only serve little purpose, but also cannibalise viewership from other
Prasar Bharati channels. It is critical that each channel is positioned clearly and
distinct from one another (Sen Committee Report, p. 18)589.”
• Corruption in allotment and scheduling of serials – An issue related to poor

production values on DD was also said to be corruption involved in allotment of
programmes to private producers and production houses. Bhaskar Ghose590 recounted
that in the 1980s when private producers first started making a beeline for
Doordarshan; along with some highly capable producers also came serials that were
mediocre but supported by money or political masters.
Others acknowledged that specific instructions were given on many occasions from
‘seniors’ in the ministry or the political class to accept certain programmes or in the
placement of programmes. S.Y. Quraishi591 noted that the methods followed by
588
Comptroller and Auditor General of India
589
590
591
206
Doordarshan of acquiring content from private producers were inefficient since there
was no system of keeping a check on quality at each stage. Consequently, many
poorly produced programmes found their way on Doordarshan. He also mentioned
that there used to be a lot of jostling at the stage of getting programmes cleared by
screening committees592.
7.20 Contradictory positioning
A recurring theme in literature related to Doordarshan is the conflict between a public

broadcaster’s social responsibility approach and the compulsions of earning
commercial revenue. Close to half of the respondents felt that Doordarshan has not
been able to make its mind on whether to prioritise public service programming over
commercially viable programmes. According to them, chasing advertising revenues
and making programmes that have significant public interest value do not necessarily
go together.
Ashok Jailkhani articulated the dilemma Doordarshan faces today as the government
tells them to raise more revenue from the market and decrease dependence on
government funds. At the same time, DD has to devote airtime to its public service
mandate. On many occasions it has to stop its regular telecast to show live parliament
coverage or other special programmes593.
Rajiv Mehrotra594 feels that people in Doordarshan should clearly articulate this
dichotomy. They are under pressure to produce programmes, which are not their
strength. Others too expressed that Doordarshan should stop competing with the
private channels. Ranjan P. Thakur595 asserted that Doordarshan should become a true
public service broadcaster instead of trying to become like a Star Plus or Zee.
592
As mentioned by Dr. S.Y. Quraishi, former DG during personal interview
593
594
595
207
Usha Rodrigues596 conceded that such trends set in ever since the arrival of private
channels. She categorised Doordarshan’s response to the satellite television evolution
as a panic reaction. Instead of focussing on its identity, Doordarshan started living for
survival. According to her, it tried to become as commercial as rest of the players, and
started showing shiny, western style programmes.
There appears to be a perception (outside DD) that Doordarshan’s positioning is

vague and contradictory. Major part of its content is cinema or entertainment, based
on which it tries to compete directly with private channels. Hence, many respondents
articulated that DD’s biggest problem is that it is unable to decide “what it wants to
become”?
7.21 Suggestions for revamp of programming
The Sam Pitroda-led committee made a number of suggestions to revamp and

reorganise DD’s programming set up. The committee noted that DD and AIR do not
have sufficient human resources to deliver the quantity and quality of programming
expected of a public service broadcaster. The committee recommended that each
channel should have a duly empowered Channel Head, as well as Content, Technical,
and Packaging heads; they could come from the organization or outsourced.
On the contentious issue of programme outsourcing, it holds that a flexible system of

selecting producers and negotiating costs needs to be put in place. It also called for
oversight committees with outside experts. The committee made a pitch for greater
funds to be spent on content creation in order to improve quality. It laid special
emphasis on doing meaningful audience research in order to be able to gauge and
address priorities of the people597.
Earlier in 2001, the Sen Committee had made strong observations on the
marginalisation of programming function in Doordarshan. The committee observed:
“Content creation and programme production are the most critical and central part of
the broadcasting function. In AIR and Doordarshan, the programme (content and
596
597
Pitroda Committee Report (2014).
208
production) function has taken a backseat and the political imperatives of
infrastructure expansion in the 1980s and 1990s yielded a central position to
engineering activity. There is an urgent need for restoration of programming to its
central position as the core function of broadcasting.598”
The Sen Committee had recommended greater in-house production, project-based

approach to programme making, and adequate budgetary allocation to support project
costs. It had also called for compulsory quality-audit of all projects by an external
committee, and rejecting programmes as well as their producers, which do not meet
quality standards as laid down by the review committee.
Some respondents too, offered a roadmap for programming reform. Brij Bakshi
suggested creation of platforms for greater public participation. He said that there
should be Doordarshan clubs in schools so that children can produce some of their
programmes. He believes that this is not a challenge rather an opportunity for
Doordarshan to script a turnaround in its moment of crisis. The challenge is to provide
“interesting social programming” and in a participatory manner599.
Others suggested that Doordarshan should focus more on regional language and local
programming. Vanita Kohli-Khandekar600 argued that Doordarshan will be better off
by focusing on its strength i.e. delivering subtle social messages through
entertainment programmes. She insists that blindly following the private channels will
not help Doordarshan as the market is already flooded with entertainment channels.
Audiences do not need an additional option (for entertainment) in the form of
Doordarshan. Marketing Head, Vijaylakshmi Chhabra601 expressed that making one or
two good programmes once in a while is not the best way to move forward. According
to her, the focus has to shift towards re-energizing the entire channel through all its
programmes.
598
599
As mentioned by respondent during personal interview
600
601
209

11 - Chapter 7

Uploaded by

Document Information

Original Title

Copyright

Available Formats

Share this document

Share or Embed Document

Sharing Options

Did you find this document useful?

Is this content inappropriate?

Copyright:

Available Formats

11 - Chapter 7

Uploaded by

Copyright:

Available Formats

7.

Programming Strategies of Doordarshan: 1984-2009

The principles discussed above appear to be recognised worldwide as the doctrine on

7.1 News on Doordarshan

Commenting on power of visual medium to influence people, Ninan (1995)384 held

• DD3 – In the 1990s, Doordarshan made an attempt to launch a channel aimed

• Newstrack – It was said to be world’s first private video news magazine.

• A bulletin for the North-East – On many occasions’ concerns were raised

• Parakh – It was a current affairs programme produced by popular television

7.2 Doordarshan News in the contemporary television landscape

Doordarshan’s news is perceived to lack credibility especially when it comes to news

However, some DD personnel disagreed that there is direct interference in news. In

K.S. Dhatwalia414, Additional Director-General in the Ministry of Information and

However, not everyone seemed to welcome Doordarshan’s guarded approach to news.

ADG (Programming), Ranjan P. Thakur419 asserted that despite claims of being a

7.4 Programming Strategies

Doordarshan’s network comprises of 28 channels (Table 7.1). DD 1 also known as

Table 7.1 – Doordarshan Network

7.5 Programme component and sources

Programmes for different channels of Doordarshan are sourced from:

Another way of procuring programmes was to commission them in which

In a bid to overcome such concerns, the Self-Financed Commissioning (SFC) Scheme

According to the channel, introduction of programmes under SFC has resulted in

By the end of 1990s, in-house production had hit a

He explained how he tried to prevent the reduction in in-house production in DD.

Commissioning of programmes is becoming the accepted norm in most parts of the

Hence, an analysis of DD’s programme procurement strategies reveal that beginning

7.7 Information and Education Programmes

Most respondents agreed that the information and education component in

7.8 Development Communication Division (DCD)

The Development Communication Division was established in 2001 to fulfill

• Kalyani – ‘Kalyani’ was launched on behalf of the Ministry of Health and

In the case of Kalyani, Doordarshan’s staff experimented with new formats –

• Jaago Grahak Jaago (Wake up Consumers) – DCD initiated a multi-media

• Paisa Hamara Faisla Hamara – The Department of Company Affairs,

Usha Bhasin487 described the DCD experiment as a turnaround for Doordarshan

The success of the Development Communication Division in doing quality public

Narrowcasting has traditionally been understood as the dissemination of information

Under this project, programmes are conceptualized and designed by experts of

The date-wise programme schedule of respective production centers is uploaded on a

ADG (Engineering) H.K. Wadhwa494 elaborated on the technical aspects of

The broad contours of its programming are as follows:

7.12 Screening of Public Service Documentaries

For production of documentaries on various public service themes, Prasar Bharati

PSBT aspires to ensure that these programmes are produced to international

Thus, it can be concluded that even today Doordarshan continues to engage in

Success of the Development Communication Division shows that substantial and

Herman & Mc Chesney (2001)511 documented the influence of sponsors over

Doordarshan claims its mandate is to provide information, education and

Former DG Rathikant Basu acknowledged the contribution of serials such as Rajani

Chauraha – It was another development soap opera. Chauraha appeared on DD

On being asked whether it amounted to copying the strategy of private channels

Some of the popular shows on DD Metro included Junoon, Shriman Shrimati, Tu Tu

7.16 The Classics Scheme

An initiative was started in 2003 to make programmes based on Indian literature

7.17 Regional language channels

Table 7.4 Regional channels of Doordarshan

Commenting on the contribution of Doordarshan’s regional kendras in sustaining

The Sen Committee Report acknowledging importance of the regional channels of

7.18 Postscript on Doordarshan’s programming

Inappropriate commissioning strategies combined with unimaginative in-house

7.19 Analysis of weaknesses in Doordarshan’s programming

• No concern with impact of programming - It has been expressed by some