Doordarshan (abbreviated as DD;

Hindi Hindi (Devanāgarī: or , ), or more precisely Modern Standard Hindi (Devanagari: ), is an Indo-Aryan language spoken chiefly in the Hindi Belt region encompassing parts of northern, central, eastern, and western India. Hindi has been ...

: , ) is an Indian public service broadcaster founded by the

Government of India The Government of India ( ISO: ; often abbreviated as GoI), known as the Union Government or Central Government but often simply as the Centre, is the national government of the Republic of India, a federal democracy located in South Asia, ...

, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions. One of India's largest broadcasting organisations in studio and

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna. The transmitter itself generates a radio frequency alternating current, which is applied to the ...

infrastructure, it was established on 15 September 1959. Doordarshan, which also broadcasts on digital terrestrial transmitters, provides television,

radio Radio is the technology of signaling and communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 30 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a tr ...

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and mobile service throughout metropolitan and regional India and overseas.

History

Beginnings

The channel began modestly as an experimental broadcaster in

Delhi Delhi, officially the National Capital Territory (NCT) of Delhi, is a city and a union territory of India containing New Delhi, the capital of India. Straddling the Yamuna river, primarily its western or right bank, Delhi shares borders w ...

on 15 September 1959, with a small transmitter and a makeshift studio. Regular daily transmission started in 1965 as part of

All India Radio All or ALL may refer to: Language * All, an indefinite pronoun in English * All, one of the English determiners * Allar language (ISO 639-3 code) * Allative case (abbreviated ALL) Music * All (band), an American punk rock band * ''All'' (All ...

, with a five-minute news bulletin read by

Pratima Puri Pratima Puri (died 29 July 2007) was an Indian journalist best known for being Doordarshan’s first newsreader. Early life She was born as Vidya Rawat to a Gorkha family at Laal Paani in Shimla, the capital city of Himachal Pradesh. Pur ...

. Salma Sultan joined Doordarshan in 1967, and became a news anchor. '' Krishi Darshan'' debuted on Doordarshan on 26 January 1967, and is Indian television's longest running program. Television service was extended to

Bombay Mumbai (, ; also known as Bombay — List of renamed Indian cities and states#Maharashtra, the official name until 1995) is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra and the ''de facto'' fin ...

(now Mumbai) and

Amritsar Amritsar (), historically also known as Rāmdāspur and colloquially as ''Ambarsar'', is the second largest city in the Indian state of Punjab, after Ludhiana. It is a major cultural, transportation and economic centre, located in the Majha ...

in 1972. Until 1975 only seven Indian cities had television service, and Doordarshan was the country's sole television provider. Television service was separated from radio on 1 April 1976. The All India Radio and Doordarshan were placed under the management of separate directors-general in New Delhi. In 1982, Doordarshan became a national broadcaster.

Nationwide transmission

National telecasts (

DD National DD National (formerly DD1) is a state-owned public entertainment television channel in India. It is the flagship channel of Doordarshan, India's public service broadcaster, and the oldest and most widely available terrestrial television chann ...

) was introduced in 1982. Colour television began in India with the live telecast of the Independence Day speech by

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on 15 August of that year, followed by the colour telecast of the 1982 Asian Games in

. Two years later, Doordarshan as a TV network finally took shape: the then sole TV channel was split into the nationally aired DD-1 and city channel DD-2, later rebranded in 1993 as ''DD National'' and ''DD Metro''. Live telecasts of the opening and closing ceremonies of the

2012 Summer Olympics The 2012 Summer Olympics (officially the Games of the XXX Olympiad and also known as London 2012) was an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, th ...

were broadcast on its national channel, and DD Sports provided round-the-clock coverage. On 17 November 2014, Doordarshan director-general Vijayalaxmi Chhabra introduced a pink-and-purple colour scheme and a new slogan: ''Desh Ka Apna Channel'' ("The country's own channel"). Doordarshan transmitted over a network of nearly 1,400 terrestrial transmitters in 2017, with 46 studios producing TV programmes. After the introduction of private channels Doordarshan is struggling to keep its position in the television space. Currently Doordarshan is trying to improve its studios and programmes while its primary aim is to serve the country.

Channels

Doordarshan operates 46 studios and 21 television channels: two all-India channels (

and DD News), 17 regional satellite channels, 11 state networks, an international channel ( DD India), a sports channel ( DD Sports),

DD Bharati DD Bharati is a state owned TV channel telecasting from Doordarshan Kendra, Delhi. It telecasts various cultural programmes and is dedicated to show India's vast culture and traditions. History DD-Bharati Channel was launched on 26 January 2002 ...

, DD Retro, DD Urdu and an agricultural channel, DD Kisan. On DD National (formerly DD-1), regional and local programs are carried on a time-sharing basis for terrestrial broadcasting only. DD News, launched on 3 November 2003 replacing DD Metro (formerly known as the DD-2 entertainment channel), provides 24-hour news. These channels are relayed by all terrestrial transmitters in India. The regional-language satellite channels have two components: a regional service for a particular state (relayed by all terrestrial transmitters in the state), and additional programs in the regional language available through cable operators and DTH operators. DD Sports broadcasts sporting events of national and international importance. It is the only sports channel which telecasts rural sports such as kho-kho and

kabbadi Kabaddi is a contact team sport. Played between two teams of seven players, the objective of the game is for a single player on offence, referred to as a "raider", to run into the opposing team's half of the court, touch out as many of thei ...

. A new regional channel, DD Arunprabha (a 24/7 satellite television channel focusing on the North Eastern region) was scheduled to begin on 15 February 2018; however, its launch was placed on hold. DD Arunprabha was launched on 9 February 2019. On 9 March 2019, Prasar Bharati brought 11 more State DD Channels on the Satellite footprint of India through DD Free Dish. This includes five channels for Northeastern states. This will go a long way in strengthening regional cultures and fulfilling people's aspirations. These are – DD Bangla, DD Chhattisgarh, DD Goa, DD Haryana, DD Himachal Pradesh, DD Jharkhand,

DD Manipur DD, dd, or other variants may refer to: Arts and entertainment *"D.D.", a track on mixtape ''Echoes of Silence'' by The Weeknd * DD (character), a character in ''The Saga of Seven Suns'' novels by Kevin J. Anderson *DD National or DD1, an Indi ...

, DD Meghalaya, DD Mizoram, DD Nagaland, DD Tripura and DD Uttarakhand. DD Bangla launched on 9 August 1975, the network's programming consists of soap operas, infotainment series, news and current affairs, social programs and films in

Bengali language Bengali ( ), generally known by its endonym Bangla (, ), is an Indo-Aryan language native to the Bengal region of South Asia. It is the official, national, and most widely spoken language of Bangladesh and the second most widely spoken ...

. On 13 April 2020, DD Retro was launched by Prasar Bharati which showed old classic Hindi serials of Doordarshan.

Channel list

International channels

National channels

Regional channels

State Network

UT Network

Former Channels

International broadcasting

The DD India satellite channel has been broadcast in 146 countries. In United Kingdom, it was available through the Eurobird satellite on the Sky system's channel 833; its logo was Rayat TV. Transmission via Sky Digital ended in June 2008, and via

DirecTV DirecTV (trademarked as DIRECTV) is an American multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital satellite service serving the United States. I ...

in the United States the following month.

Record viewership during pandemic

Ramayan on DD National created a world record by becoming highest viewed entertainment programme globally. The 9 PM show on 16 April 2020 was watched by a mammoth 7.7 crore (77 million) viewers. The show managed to reach more than 28.5 crore (285 million) viewers through the length of the broadcast. As a broadcasting response to nation-wide lockdown, apart from Ramayan, many other nostalgia shows were broadcast on DD network. These included Mahabharat, Chanakya, Shri Krishna, Byomkesh Bakshi and Shaktimaan. In light of increasing public demand for such retro content, Prasar Bharati launched ‘DD Retro’ as a full-time channel dedicated for the same. The channel started garnering viewership of almost 5 crore (50 million) within five weeks of its launch. Delivering on its mandate of public messaging, DD network, through COVID-focused awareness messages and shows, reached more than 40 crore (400 million) viewers during first wave of the pandemic in 2020.

Criticisms

Prasar Bharati is Doordarshan's parent body, and its board members are appointed by the

through the Information and Broadcasting Ministry. Doordarshan has been used, especially during the Emergency, to disseminate government propaganda. During Operation Blue Star in 1984, only government sources were used to report the story. Doordarshan was complicit in the production of a video claiming acts of violence which, when investigated by independent journalists, were found to be false. In 2004, it censored a controversial documentary on Jayaprakash Narayan, an opposition leader during the Emergency. In 2014, When Doordarshan broadcast a 70-minute

Vijayadashami Vijayadashami ( sa, विजयदशमी, Vijayadaśamī, translit-std=IAST), also known as Dussehra, Dasara or Dashain, is a major Hindu festival celebrated at the end of Navaratri every year. It is observed on the tenth day in the Hin ...

speech by

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( ; , , ) is an Indian right-wing, Hindu nationalist, paramilitary volunteer organisation. The RSS is the progenitor and leader of a large body of organisations called the Sangh Parivar (Hindi for "Sangh family ...

(RSS) leader Mohan Bhagwat, the Narendra Modi administration and the BJP were criticised for "misusing" the public broadcaster. According to DD director-general Archana Datta, the "speech was like any other news event; therefore, we covered it." Since private television channels were authorised in 1991, Doordarshan has experienced a steep decline in viewership. Although it earns significant advertising revenue—due to its compulsory feed—from the highest bidder for national events (including cricket matches), there has been a proposal to fund it by imposing a licence fee to own a television in India.

References

External links

Durdarshan official site

Doordarshan news site

DD News
on

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DD News
on

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Broadcasting Broadcasting is the distribution of audio or video content to a dispersed audience via any electronic mass communications medium, but typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), in a one-to-many model. Broadcasting began wi ...