Doordarshan (), abbreviated as DD, is India's

state-owned State ownership, also called public ownership or government ownership, is the ownership of an industry, asset, property, or enterprise by the national government of a country or state, or a public body representing a community, as opposed to ...

public In public relations and communication science, publics are groups of individual people, and the public (a.k.a. the general public) is the totality of such groupings. This is a different concept to the sociology, sociological concept of the ''Öf ...

television broadcaster A television broadcaster or television network is a telecommunications network for the distribution of television show, television content, where a central operation provides programming to many television stations, pay television providers or ...

. Established by the

Government of India The Government of India (ISO 15919, ISO: Bhārata Sarakāra, legally the Union Government or Union of India or the Central Government) is the national authority of the Republic of India, located in South Asia, consisting of States and union t ...

on 15 September 1959, it is owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and constitutes one of

Prasar Bharati Prasar Bharati (abbreviated as PB) () is India's state-owned public broadcaster, headquartered in New Delhi, India. It is a statutory autonomous body set up by an Act of Parliament. It comprises Doordarshan, the television broadcaster, and Al ...

's two divisions. Doordarshan, one of India's largest broadcasting organisations in studio and

transmitter In electronics and telecommunications, a radio transmitter or just transmitter (often abbreviated as XMTR or TX in technical documents) is an electronic device which produces radio waves with an antenna (radio), antenna with the purpose of sig ...

infrastructure, delivers television,

radio Radio is the technology of communicating using radio waves. Radio waves are electromagnetic waves of frequency between 3 hertz (Hz) and 300 gigahertz (GHz). They are generated by an electronic device called a transmitter connec ...

, online, and mobile services across metropolitan and regional India, and internationally. It also broadcasts via digital terrestrial transmitters.

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, but spread chiefly to the west, or beyond its Bank (geography ...

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

All India Radio All India Radio (AIR), also known as Akashvani (), is India's state-owned public broadcasting, public radio broadcaster. Founded in 1936, it operates under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broa ...

, with a five-minute news bulletin read by Pratima Puri. Salma Sultan joined Doordarshan in 1967 and became a news anchor. Gitanjali Aiyar, Neethi Ravindran, and Rini Simon became popular news anchors in the 1970s. ''

Krishi Darshan ''Krishi Darshan'' (English: Agriculture Vision) is an Indian television program which premiered on DD National. It premiered on 26 January 1967 and is the longest running television series in India. It is broadcast to 80 villages close to Del ...

'', which debuted on Doordarshan on 26 January 1967, is considered Indian television's longest-running programme. Television services were expanded to

Bombay Mumbai ( ; ), also known as Bombay ( ; its official name until 1995), is the capital city of the Indian States and union territories of India, state of Maharashtra. Mumbai is the financial centre, financial capital and the list of cities i ...

(now Mumbai) and

Amritsar Amritsar, also known as Ambarsar, is the second-List of cities in Punjab, India by population, largest city in the India, Indian state of Punjab, India, Punjab, after Ludhiana. Located in the Majha region, it is a major cultural, transportatio ...

in 1972. By 1975, only seven Indian cities had access to television, with Doordarshan being the sole provider in the country. On 1 April 1976, television services were officially separated from radio. All India Radio and Doordarshan were placed under the management of separate Directors-General in New Delhi. In 1982, Doordarshan transitioned into a national broadcaster.

Nationwide transmission

National telecasts (

DD National DD National (formerly DD1) is an Indian state-owned entertainment television channel, founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (India), Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It is the flagshi ...

) were introduced in 1982.

Colour television Color television (American English) or colour television (British English) is a television transmission technology that also includes color information for the picture, so the video image can be displayed in color on the television set. It improv ...

in India was introduced with the live telecast of Prime Minister

Indira Gandhi Indira Priyadarshini Gandhi (Given name, ''née'' Nehru; 19 November 1917 – 31 October 1984) was an Indian politician and stateswoman who served as the Prime Minister of India, prime minister of India from 1966 to 1977 and again from 1980 un ...

's Independence Day speech on 15 August 1982, followed by the colour broadcast of the

1982 Asian Games The 9th Asian Games (), also known as Delhi 1982 (), were held from 19 November to 4 December 1982, in Delhi, India. 74 Asian and Asian Games records were broken at the event. This was also the first Asiad to be held under the aegis of the Olymp ...

held in Delhi. Two years later, Doordarshan evolved into a structured TV network. The sole TV channel was split into DD-1, a nationally broadcast channel, and DD-2, a city-focused channel. In 1993, they were rebranded as DD National and DD Metro to compete with the then-newly privatised television industry. The 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, were an international multi-sport event held from 27 July to 12 August 2012 in London, England, United Kingdom. The first event, the ...

were aired on Doordarshan's national channel, while

DD Sports DD Sports is an Indian state-owned sports television channel, founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It telecasting from Central Production Centre in Delhi, India. It is a part of the Doorda ...

offered round-the-clock coverage of the event. On 17 November 2014, Doordarshan director-general Vijayalaxmi Chhabra introduced a pink-and-purple colour scheme with a new slogan: ''Desh Ka Apna Channel'' ("The country's own channel"). In 2017, Doordarshan operated a network of nearly 1,400 terrestrial transmitters and had 46 studios producing television programmes. After introducing private channels, Doordarshan has faced challenges in maintaining its position in the television industry. Currently, Doordarshan focuses on improving its studios and programmes, primarily aimed to serve the nation. DD National and

DD News DD News is an Indian state-owned Hindi news television channel, founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It is the flagship channel of Doordarshan. India's only 24-hour terrestrial TV news ...

—along with 17 regional satellite channels, 11 state networks, an international channel (

DD India DD India, is an Indian state-owned international English language news and current affairs channel from India. The service is also aimed at the overseas market, similar to WION, CNN International, BBC News, DW, VOA, France24, NHK World-Ja ...

), a sports channel (DD Sports), cultural and informative channels like

DD Bharati DD Bharati is an Indian state-owned art and culture television channel, founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It is the flagship channel of Doordarshan was launched on 26 January 2002, by c ...

and

DD Urdu DD Urdu is an Indian free-to-air television channel broadcasting from the Doordarshan Studios in New Delhi. It broadcasts entertainment, cultural, news and infotainment programming in the Urdu standard of the Hindustani language Hind ...

, and an agricultural channel,

DD Kisan DD Kisan is an Indian state-owned agriculture television channel, founded by the Government of India, owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. It is the flagship channel of Doordarshan was launched on 26 May 2015. The channel i ...

. On DD National (formerly DD-1), regional and local programs are aired on a time-sharing basis for terrestrial broadcasting only. DD News, launched on 3 November 2003, replaced

DD Metro DD Metro also known as DD 2 was an Indian free-to-air television channel. It was launched in 1984 as DD2 in Delhi as an alternative to DD National. Later, it increased its coverage area by expanding to Mumbai, Kolkata and Chennai. In 1993, the ...

(formerly DD-2), providing 24-hour news coverage. These channels are relayed through all terrestrial transmitters in India. The regional-language satellite channels consist of two components: a regional service for a specific state (relayed by all terrestrial transmitters in that state) and additional regional-language programs available through cable and DTH operators. DD Sports broadcasts national and international sporting events and is the only channel to air rural sports such as kho-kho and

kabaddi Kabaddi (, ) is a contact team sport played between two teams of seven players. It is one of the traditional games of South Asia. In this game, a raider enters the opposing half of the court to touch defenders and attempt to return within 30 ...

. A new regional channel,

DD Arunprabha Doordarshan Arunprabha (DD Arun Prabha) is an Indian satellite television channel, which was launched on 9 February 2019 by Prime Minister of India Narendra Modi. It is Doordarshan's second channel for North East and first for Arunachal Pradesh ...

, was initially scheduled to begin broadcasting on 15 February 2018, focusing on the North Eastern region of India as a 24/7 satellite television channel. However, its launch was delayed and eventually took place on 9 February 2019. On 9 March 2019,

expanded Indian's satellite footprint through

DD Free Dish DD Free Dish (formerly known as DD Direct Plus) is an Indian state-owned free-to-air satellite television provider owned and operated by Public Service Broadcaster Prasar Bharati. It was launched in December, 2004. In March 2022, It has a reac ...

by adding 11 more state DD channels. This included five channels for the North Eastern states:

DD Bangla DD Bangla is an Indian Bengali-language free-to-air state-owned television network owned by state-owned broadcaster Doordarshan, established on 20 August 1992. It is the successor of Doordarshan Kendra Kolkata, established on 9 August 1975. It ...

, DD Chhattisgarh, DD Goa, DD Haryana, DD Himachal Pradesh, DD Jharkhand, DD Manipur, DD Meghalaya, DD Mizoram, DD Nagaland,

DD Tripura DD Tripura is a state-owned television channel owned by Doordarshan, serving the Indian state of Tripura. It was formerly known as Doordarshan Kendra Agartala until 21 January 2021, when it was renamed to its current name. It also commenced ful ...

, and DD Uttarakhand. DD Bangla, launched on 9 August 1975, features a programming mix that includes soap operas,

infotainment Infotainment (a portmanteau of ''information'' and ''entertainment''), also called soft news as a way to distinguish it from serious journalism or hard news, is a type of media, usually television or online, that provides a combination of inform ...

series, news and current affairs, social programs, and films, all in

Bangla Bangla () may refer to: *Bengali language, an eastern Indo-Aryan language *The endonym of Bengal, a geographical and ethno-linguistic region in South Asia *''Bangla-'', a prefix indicating Bangladesh *West Bengal, a state in eastern India, also kn ...

. On 13 April 2020, Prasar Bharati launched

DD Retro DD Retro was an Indian Hindi-language TV channel. It was launched by Prasar Bharati on 13 April 2020. It was a free-to-air general entertainment channel on which old classic shows of Doordarshan are telecasted, DD Retro channel has been added ...

, a channel dedicated to airing classic

Hindi Modern Standard Hindi (, ), commonly referred to as Hindi, is the Standard language, standardised variety of the Hindustani language written in the Devanagari script. It is an official language of India, official language of the Government ...

serials from Doordarshan. However, the service ceased operations on 1 April 2023 due to low viewership.

Channel list

Doordarshan operates 41 channels, including HD feeds.

National channels (7)

Regional channels (28)

HD channels (6)

Former channels

International broadcasting

The

satellite channel has been broadcast in 146 countries. In the

United Kingdom The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Northwestern Europe, off the coast of European mainland, the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotlan ...

, it was available through the

Eurobird Eurobird was a series of satellites owned and operated by Eutelsat. The Eurobird satellites provided broadcasting and telecommunication services primarily to the Western and Central European region from orbital positions of 9, 25.5 and 33 degrees E ...

satellite on the Sky system's channel 833, under the logo Rayat TV. However, transmission via Sky Digital ended in June 2008, followed by the termination of its broadcast via

DirecTV DirecTV, LLC is an American Multichannel television in the United States, multichannel video programming distributor based in El Segundo, California. Originally launched on June 17, 1994, its primary service is a digital Satellite television, s ...

in the

United States The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 U.S. state, states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 ...

the following month.

Record viewership during the pandemic COVID-19

The '' Ramayan'' on DD National set a world record by becoming the highest-viewed entertainment programme globally. The 9:00 p.m. broadcast on 16 April 2020 was watched by 77 million viewers. The show reached over 285 million viewers during its broadcast. In response to the nationwide lockdown, DD network aired several nostalgic shows, including ''

Mahabharat The ''Mahābhārata'' ( ; , , ) is one of the two major Sanskrit epics of ancient India revered as Smriti texts in Hinduism, the other being the '' Rāmāyaṇa''. It narrates the events and aftermath of the Kurukshetra War, a war of succes ...

'', ''

Chanakya Chanakya (ISO 15919, ISO: ', चाणक्य, ), according to legendary narratives preserved in various traditions dating from the 4th to 11th century CE, was a Brahmin who assisted the first Mauryan emperor Chandragupta Maurya, Chandragup ...

'', ''

Shri Krishna Krishna (; Sanskrit: कृष्ण, ) is a major deity in Hinduism. He is worshipped as the eighth avatar of Vishnu and also as the Supreme God in his own right. He is the god of protection, compassion, tenderness, and love; and is wi ...

'', '' Malgudi Days'', ''

Byomkesh Bakshi Byomkesh Bakshi is a fictional detective created by Bengali author Sharadindu Bandyopadhyay. A self-proclaimed "satyanweshi" (literally seeker of truth), Bakshi is known for his keen observation, logical thinking, and knowledge of forensic sc ...

'', and ''

Shaktimaan ''Shaktimaan'' is an Indian Hindi-language superhero television series created and produced by Mukesh Khanna. It aired on DD National from 13 September 1997 to 27 March 2005. Khanna starred as the titular superhero, who gains superhuman abilit ...

''. Due to increasing public demand for such content, Prasar Bharati launched DD Retro, a full-time channel dedicated to classic programming. Within five weeks of its launch, DD Retro garnered viewership of nearly 50 million. Additionally, the DD network played a key role in public messaging during the pandemic, reaching over 400 million viewers through COVID-19 awareness messages and shows during the first wave of 2020.

Criticisms

is the parent body of Doordarshan, and the

appoints its board members through the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting. Doordarshan has been used, particularly during the

Emergency An emergency is an urgent, unexpected, and usually dangerous situation that poses an immediate risk to health, life, property, or environment and requires immediate action. Most emergencies require urgent intervention to prevent a worsening ...

, to disseminate government propaganda. During

Operation Blue Star Operation Blue Star was a military operation by the Indian Armed Forces conducted between 1 and 10 June 1984 to remove Jarnail Singh Bhindranwale and other Sikh militants from the Golden Temple (Harmandir Sahib), a holy site of Sikhism, and i ...

in 1984, only government sources were relied upon for reporting the events. Additionally, Doordarshan was involved in the production of a video that claimed acts of violence, which, when investigated by independent journalists, were found to be false. In 2004, it censored a controversial documentary on

Jayaprakash Narayan Jayaprakash Narayan Srivastava (; 11 October 1902 – 8 October 1979), also known as JP and ''Lok Nayak'' (Hindi for "People's leader"), was an Indian politician, theorist and Indian independence activist, independence activist. He is mai ...

, an opposition leader during the Emergency. In 2014, Doordarshan broadcast a 70-minute

Vijayadashami Vijayadashami (), more commonly known as Dassahra in Hindi, and also known as Dashāhra or Dashain in Bhojpuri, Maithili and Nepali, is a major Hindu festival celebrated every year at the end of Durga Puja and Navaratri, Navarahtri. It is ob ...

speech by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader

Mohan Bhagwat Mohan Madhukar Rao Bhagwat (; born 11 September 1950) is the sixth and current '' Sarsanghchalak'' (Chief) of the nationalist social organisation Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) since 2009. Early life Mohan Madhukar Bhagwat was born in a M ...

, which led to criticism of the Narendra Modi administration and the BJP for "misusing" the public broadcaster. DD Director-General Archana Datta responded, "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 Doordarshan 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 the network by imposing a

licence fee A television licence or broadcast receiving licence is a payment required in many countries for the reception of television broadcasts or the possession of a television set. In some countries, a licence is also required to own a radio or rece ...

for owning a television in India.

Legacy

A film named after the broadcaster, spiritually motivated by the 2003

German German(s) may refer to: * Germany, the country of the Germans and German things **Germania (Roman era) * Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language ** For citizenship in Germany, see also Ge ...

film ''

Good Bye, Lenin! ''Good Bye, Lenin!'' is a 2003 German tragicomedy film, directed by Wolfgang Becker. The cast includes Daniel Brühl, Katrin Sass, Chulpan Khamatova, and Maria Simon. The story follows a family in East Germany (GDR); the mother (Sass) is ded ...

'', was released in February 2020.

References

External links

Durdarshan official site

Doordarshan news site

DD News
on

Twitter Twitter, officially known as X since 2023, is an American microblogging and social networking service. It is one of the world's largest social media platforms and one of the most-visited websites. Users can share short text messages, image ...

DD News
on

Facebook Facebook is a social media and social networking service owned by the American technology conglomerate Meta Platforms, Meta. Created in 2004 by Mark Zuckerberg with four other Harvard College students and roommates, Eduardo Saverin, Andre ...

{{CATV * Television networks in India Television stations in India Companies based in New Delhi Mass media companies established in 1959 Television channels and stations established in 1959 1959 establishments in Delhi Foreign television channels broadcasting in the United Kingdom Multilingual broadcasters Producers who won the Best Debut Feature Film of a Director National Film Award Producers who won the Best Film on Environment Conservation/Preservation National Film Award Producers who won the Best Film on Family Welfare National Film Award Producers who won the Best Film on National Integration National Film Award Producers who won the Best Film on Other Social Issues National Film Award Television broadcasting companies of India Mass media companies of India

Broadcasting Broadcasting is the data distribution, distribution of sound, audio audiovisual content to dispersed audiences via a electronic medium (communication), mass communications medium, typically one using the electromagnetic spectrum (radio waves), ...