SITE

 The Satellite Instructional Television Experiment or SITE was an

experimental satellite communications project launched in India in 1975,
designed jointly by NASA and the Indian Space Research
Organization (ISRO).

 The experiment ran for one year from 1 August 1975 to 31 July 1976

 India needed to take the reach of a communication network to rural areas.

 In 1975, when television was a rarity even in urban India, TV sets for
community viewing were set up in schools or Panchayat centres in 2,400
villages in six States — Bihar, Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Andhra Pradesh,
Karnataka and Rajasthan.

 Villagers were able to watch programmes related to health, agriculture and

development, in their own language.

 SITE also broadcast education programmes for children, also organising a

special training programme for as many as 50,000 school teachers.

 SITE epitomised Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO)’s commitment

to an application-oriented approach where technology would be used to
solve the real problems of the country.

 The choice of the areas and the villages for TV sets was indicative of its
dedication to use technology to help the most disadvantaged.

 SITE used a foreign satellite, but the hardware — like the earth stations for
uplinking programmes to the satellite; the TV sets; and the special direct-
reception equipment — was designed and made in India.

 SITE was intended as an experiment that would provide inputs for an

operational system, and indeed resulted in much learning that proved
invaluable for the Indian National Satellite System (INSAT).

 The project was supported by various international agencies such as

the UNDP, UNESCO, UNICEF and ITU.
  The project showed that India could use advanced technology to fulfill the
socio-economic needs of the country.

 SITE was followed by similar experiments in various countries, which

showed the important role satellite TV could play in providing education.

Types of Programmes

ETV

Two types of programmes were prepared for broadcasting: educational

television (ETV) and instructional television (ITV). ETV programmes were meant
for school children and focussed on interesting and creative educational
programmes. These programmes were broadcast for 1.5 hours during school hours.
During holidays, this time was used to broadcast Teacher Training
Programmes designed to train almost 100,000 primary school teachers during the
duration of the SITE.

ITV

The ITV programmes were meant for adult audiences, mainly to those who were
illiterate. They were broadcast for 2.5 hours during the evenings. The programmes
covered health, hygiene, family planning, nutrition, improved practices in
agriculture and events of national importance. Thus, the programmes were beamed
for four hours daily in two transmissions. The targeted audience was categorised
into four linguistic groups—Hindi, Oriya, Telugu and Kannada—and programmes
were produced according to the language spoken in the cluster

General Objectives

The general objectives of the project were to:

  gain experience in the development, testing and management of a satellite-
based instructional television system particularly in rural areas and to
determine optimal system parameters;

 demonstrate the potential value of satellite technology in the rapid

development of effective mass communications in developing countries;

 demonstrate the potential value of satellite broadcast TV in the practical

instruction of village inhabitants; and

 stimulate national development in India, with important managerial,

economic, technological and social implications.

Result of the Experiment

 The research and development capability generated during setting up of this

experiment was an invaluable spin-off.

 It was more effective than all other media in attracting the female audience.

 The continuous feedback through everyday interviews showed that the

audience favoured instructional programmes as compared to socio- cultural
programmes.

 A large longitudinal survey showed large gains in information, awareness

and knowledge in areas such as health and hygiene, political consciousness,
overall modernity, and family planning.

 In the area of agriculture, large number of innovations triggered by the

television programmes. Farmers adopted only those new practices which did
not demand additional expense on infrastructure.

 A survey of children showed positive gains in the area of language

development and in the attitude of seeking knowledge and information from
sources other than conventional classroom teaching.

 In both attitudinal, as well as, in behavioural information, the overall

modernity increased as a result of TV viewing. It was higher among female
frequent viewers as compared to male frequent viewers.