History of Indian

Television
 History of Television

Paul Gottlieb Nipkow (1890s), developed the first ever

mechanical module of television.
He succeeded in sending images through wires with the
help of a rotating metal disk. This technology was called the
electric telescope
 History of Television

Around 1907, two separate inventors, A.A. Campbell-

Swinton from England and Russian scientist Boris Rosing, used
the cathode ray tube in addition to the mechanical
scanner system, to create a new television system.

mechanical television and electronic television

 History of Television

In 1923, an American inventor called Charles Jenkins used the disk

idea of Nipkow to invent the first ever practical mechanical
television system
 History of Television

1926 John Logie Baird, was the first person to have

succeeded in transmitting moving pictures through the
mechanical disk system started by Nipkow. He also started
the first ever TV studio
 History of Television

Electronic tv

In 1927, Philo Taylor Farnsworth was able to invent a working

model of electronic television that was based on Swintons
ideas.
Philo had created the first electronic television system, which
did away with the rotating disks and other mechanical
aspects of mechanical television.
Development of Television

1959: Philips offered the Govt. of India with

transmitters at reduced rates.
UNESCO provided a grant of $20000 to the
government to purchase community TV sets.
US offered some equipments for transmitting.
Sept 15, 1959- Experimental TV station was set
up in New Delhi.
To discover how TV could achieve in
community development and formal
education.
The transmitter range was limited to 40 km.
20 minutes program for two days per week.
Development of Television

Oct 24, 1961- educational TV programs for the

science teachers started.
This project was the first educational project that
targeted at the schools of Delhi.
Aug 1965- along with the social educational
programs, the entertainment and informational
programs were started.
A TV studio was set up at Delhi with the help from
Republic of Germany.
 Development of Television

Jan 26, 1967- Delhi Agricultural TV Project initiated a

project Krishi Darshan a weekly program for 20
minutes was telecasted.
This was targeted for the farmers in 80 villages of
Haryana, Delhi and Uttar Pradesh.
The programs were viewed with the help of
community TV sets.
 Development of Television

1970- Indians assembled TV sets in markets

No of TV sets shoot up to one lakh because it
became more cheaper.
Transmission was extended to three hours.
Oct 2, 1972- Bombay TV center was
inaugurated
Range of 7- 100 km.
 Development of Television

Aug 1, 1975- SITE( Satellite Instructional Television

Experiment) started.
It was a joint venture between NASA and ISRO
India signed the agreement with US govt. in 1969.
an application satellite (Application Technology
Satellite) was launched from US on May 1974.
This was the largest techno- social experiment in
human communication.
 Development of Television

SITE was targeted at six states across India

(Karnataka, Rajasthan, Orissa, Bihar, Madhya
Pradesh and Andhra Pradesh)
It spread the messages across 2330 villages in these
6 states
This project demonstrated that the new technology
could reach the number of people in the remotest
areas. This project was appreciated and
accepted by the people at large.
Development of Television

Long Term Objectives of SITE

Gain experience in the development of satellite
instructional TV system particularly in rural areas.
Demonstrate the potential value of satellite
technology.
To develop mass communication technology in
developing countries like India.
Stimulate national development.
 Development of Television

Short term Objectives of SITE

Educate the population about the issues
related to family planning, agricultural
practices and national integration
Impart adult education to improve the
occupational skills
To improve the general health and hygiene.
To impart school education to primary
school education in their respective regional
languages.
 1976- Doordarshan separated from AIR and became an
independent body under I&B ministry
March 1977- Post SITE project was started in the state of
Rajasthan; targeted at the villagers to spread adult
education i.e. agricultural programs, health and
hygiene and family planning.
June 9, 1981- Indias first satellite Aryabatta went to the
orbit taking doorsteps of independent satellite systems
 Color television
1982- color TV introduced; Indian
television viewers now experienced real
life images with colors.
Coverage of Asian Games in TV
Coverage of NAM ministers conference.
Indias first communication satellite INSAT
1A was placed in the geostationary orbit.
 1983- INSAT 1B was placed in to the orbit.
Indias first sponsored program show theme
1984- Indias first soap opera- Hum Log started
the idea was to show problems typical to a large lower
middle class family; poverty, alcoholism & illiteracy.
it portrayed large family was the root cause of all problems
3.6 million households watched this serial.
the production and telecast cost was provided by nestle in
exchange of 5 min to advertise its brands
 Cable years
it started in Mumbai in the mid 80s. the flats were
targeted, they connected large antennas on the
roofs. Rs. 500/- was charged for installation charges.
Pirated films were broadcast through these cables
and slowly people shifted to cable networks.
After the advent of private satellite channels in 1991,
the signals were transferred through these cable
networks which made it more popular among the
Indian audience till the development of DTH and
Conditional Access System.
 Rise of SOAPS (Vasanth Saith I& B minister)
Hum log (1984)
Nukkad (85)
Buniyad (86)
Malgudi Days (88/89)
Param Vir Chakra
Fauji, Udaan, Chandrakantha
Mungerilal ka haseena sapne
Surabhi, CID, Shathiman, Jungle book
Rise of K serials
Balaji tele films (Soap Factory)- Ekta Kapoor
Kyunki Saas bhi kabhi bahu thi (extended family is still the bedrock of Indian
tele series)- over 1800 episodes
Kuch Toh Hai Tere Mere Darmiyaan, Kasam pyar ki. etc
Weeping women and conniving mother in law plotting against daughter in
laws
Pavithra bhandhan, Kahani Ghar Ghar ki, pavitra rishtha etc
Diya aur bathi
Satellite Broadcasting
1990- Li Ka Shing- a Hong Kong businessman
bought Asiasat1, a private satellite over the Indian
ocean. Through this satellite, the first satellite
channel- STAR Plus was telecasted to China and
India in the year 1991.
1991- Gulf war further stimulated the growth of
satellite television. Five star hotels in Mumbai
bought dish antennas and watch live.
Soon cable operator took satellite broadcasting .
MTV, BBC was aired through the cable networks.
Oct2, 1992- Zee TV the first Indian satellite channel
launched. It began three hour broadcasting
largely film based contents. This was what Indian
audience waiting for.
1993- TV 18 group produced an entertainment
magazine The India Show in STAR plus. Later on
they produced The India Business Report in BBC
world.
1995- NDTV- the first private producer of national
news News Tonight in Doordarshan with spot
reporting and pertinent visuals.
TV Today network got 20min time slot DD Metro
and telecasted a current affairs program Aaj
Tak, Business Aaj Tak, News Track.
Meanwhile satellite channels concentrated on
entertainment programs.
 1995- Zee News (Hindi) - Sabse Phale- the first
private news channel launched. News and current
affairs revolutionalized the Indian Media.
1998- STAR News- the 24 hour news channel was
launched. NDTV provided contents to STAR News.
Meanwhile Kargil War changed the face of
television reporting. For the first time Indians
watched live wars. This kindled the spirit of
nationalism among the audiences.
Soon the audience shifted from the entertainment
channels to the information programs. Many
media houses planned to start news channels,
which was reflected in the coming years.
 Nov 1999- CNBC Asia and TV 18 group started the first business
channel- CNBC India.
Dec 2000- Living Media group started Aaj Tak- the Hindi news
channel.
March 2003, NDTVs contract with STAR News expired. They
soon started their independent news channel NDTV 24X7 and
NDTV India.
March 28, 2003- Sahara Group started Sahara Samay- the
metro channel concentrated on the metros.
Oct 3, 2003- DD Metro changed to DD News and was
launched in Nov 3, 2003.
2003 DTH services started - Dish TV, DD Direct 2004, Tata Sky
2006, Sun direct 2007, Airtel, Big TV -2008, Videocon 2009;
 Jan 17, 2005- NDTV Profit was launched
2005- CNBC Awaz- the Hindi business channel was started.
Regional channels like ETV (Eenadu TV), Sun TV, Asianet, etc
started broadcasting in the southern states during 1995.
Meanwhile general entertainment channels along with
special interest channels (HBO, CN, V, etc) started
broadcasting which ushered the growth of television.
October 31, 2012; first phase of digitization begun
4 phases of digitization- December 31, 2016.
 Rise of MSO- Mid 90s
Siti Cable,
Hathway
United Cable n/w
RPG cable
InCable
Sumangali cable

CAS- digitization
Set top boxes
Plans
Al a carte
Trends in Indian TV

881 channels [ sept 2016]

Demonetization [crunch in advertising and subscription revenues Q4]
BARC [viewership/impressions per 000s both urban and rural
measurements]
HITS [headend in the sky] [integrating with cable operator]
OTT- over the top[wireless tv viewing]
IPTV[ Internet protocol tv]
Content sharing
FTA [400+ channels]
TV as Medium of Communication

A/V medium
Platform for discussion and debate
A tool for education
Preserving the art, culture, and heritage
More interactivity
Information updating
Portability
Upholds diversity
It affects the thought process[ reality/ virtual/ catharsis/
narcosis ]