EVOLUTION OF

TELEVISION
IN INDIA
Television is far more than a box of
electronic circuitry that delivers news
updates and dramatic programming.

Television has gradually become our

culture”,
Neil Postman.
• The origin of television dates back to the early 20th
century(1920’s)

• These initial experiments used a mechanical

scanning disc that did not scan a picture rapidly
enough

• 1923:Invention of the iconoscope ,the electric

television tube.
A Scottish engineer, John Baird is
generally credited with the invention
of television who in 1924 in a
improvised laboratory in his lodging
in Hastings ,England succeeded in
transmitting the form of pictures from
one place to another
• 1930: launch of National Broadcasting
Corporation (NBC) at New York

• The war not only created a supply of news

but also a demand for it.

• 2 November,1936: BBC initiated the first

regular television service in the world.

• May,1937:The BBC televised the Coronation

• 1936 - British Broadcasting Corporation
(BBC) of Britain began the first television
service of the world.

• 1939 - Television broadcasts began in US

• 1950s - Other countries began television

broadcasting on a wide scale

• 1953 - The first successful program in

colour was transmitted by CBS in USA
• 1956:The General Conference of UNESCO which was hosted
by India in New Delhi made a provision of $20,000 to set up a
pilot project to study the use of TV as a medium of education,
rural uplift and community development.

• 1959:Philips offered to the govt of India a transmitter at a

reduced cost.

• September 15,1959: Television was introduced in India Delhi

Television centre

• The range of the transmitter was forty kilometers round about

Delhi.

• Soon programs began t o be beamed twice a week each of

20 minutes duration.
• The audience comprised of 180 tale clubs
which were provide sets by UNESCO.

• Development of television broadcasting

proceeded at a very slow pace in the first
twenty years of existence in the country.

• 1961:Doordarshan was used as a support to

middle and higher secondary school
education.

• It's experiments in teaching of science

,mathematics, and language were proved most
successful and received appreciation from
many UNESCO experts.
• August1964: In addition to social
education programs entertainment and
information programs were introduced .

• TV production studio was set up with the

help of the Federal Republic of Germany.

• April,1965: a general service was started.

It was for one hour a day on four days of
the week.

• 15th august,1965- service was made daily.

• January 26,1967: Krishi Darshan for rural viewers was
inaugurated.

• It was inaugurated by Indira Gandhi and was telecasted

on Wednesday and Fridays for 20 minutes each day,
and served 80 villages around Delhi) provided with
community sets.

• This pilot project was initiated by the Department of

Atomic Energy in collaboration with the Ministry of
Information and Broadcasting.

• From July 15,1970 the duration was increased to 30

minutes and the program was also broadcasted on
Mondays.
• The seventies saw major expansion
• 1972:DD,Bombay was commissioned
• 1973: DD,Srinagar was commissioned
• 1975:DD,Calcutta was commissioned
• Subsequently DD Madras, Lucknow,
Amritsar, Jalandhar was formed.
• August1 ,1975-76:SITE
Satellite Instructional Television Experiment
• was launched(6 states-Karnataka, Andhra,
Orissa, Madhya Pradesh, Bihar and
Rajasthan/2400 villages)
• Jan 1,1976:Commercials came to be
telecasted
• 1st April,1976: Separation of Radio and
Doordarshan.

• 1977: earthly transmitters were put up at Jaipur ,

Hyderabad, Raipur, Gulbara, Sambhalpur, and
Muzaffarpur

• 1982: colour transmission was initiated in the

ASIAD games.
• 1982: Launch of INSAT -1A, India’s first domestic
communication satellite.
• August,1983:Launch of INSAT 1 B, a regular
INSAT service in six states of India- Andhra
Pradesh, Orissa, Maharashtra, Gujarat, Bihar, and
Uttar Pradesh.
• 1983:
Television expansion which envisaged establishment of
high power transmitters and low power transmitters in
various parts of the country
Commercial spots on television programs increased.

• 1984:India’s First soap opera HUMLOG was introduced.

• The next in the row were programs like

• Yeh Jo hain Zindagi
• Khandan
• Idhar Udhar
• Ados Pados
• Buniyaad
• The religious epics like Mahabharata and the
Ramayana which followed the soap opera format
proved to be phenomenal success on the small
screen.

• 1984 and 1985 : Introduction of the second channel

of DD Delhi and Bombay

• 1985: DD teletext service known as INTEXT was

started .

• It provided the viewers with news, rail and air

timings, weather information and other data of
common interest.
.
• May,1991: India started receiving Star TV/
CNN telecast
• Oct,2,1992: Zee TV, Hindi service was
started.
• 1993:The four terrestrial transmitters were
linked through a satellite to provide more
entertainment for urban audience.
( DD Entertainment channel)
• DD started regional language satellite
channel.

• 1997: DD being autonomous after Prasar

Bharti Act
• There are currently 1148
permitted private satellite
television stations in India.

• As of 2 December 2015, there are

also more than 100 government
channels.

• Hindi-language television
channels have the highest market
Thank you