Chapter - 2

Genesis and Growth of Indian Broadcasting

2.1 The history of broadcasting is inextricably interwoven with the history of a momentous era, an era which saw the climax of India's struggle for independence, the attainment of freedom and the first steps of a young nation on the road to fulfillment and stirrings of economic reconstruction.

2.2 Broadcasting in India started on 31st July, 1924, when the Madras Presidency Radio Club went on the air for the first time. However, their pioneering, effort came to an end in 1927 owing to financial crisis. The move towards a regular broadcasting service was made in the same year by the Indian Broadcasting Company, a commercial undertaking, which chose for its operations the two premier cities of Bombay and Calcutta. In March, l930 the Indian Broadcasting Company had to go into liquidation. A month later, the then Government of India took over the control of the Company's affairs and the Indian State Broadcasting Service was born; but the worst was not over. After operating the service for about 18 months, the Government decided to close it down having concluded that the service was hardly a viable proposition. At this juncture, public opinion began to assert itself and the Government gave up the contemplated closure. And thus, in May, 1932, Indian Broadcasting received its permanent lease of life. The next four years were marked by some significant developments and, in June, 1936, Indian State Broadcasting was given its present name, All India Radio.

2.3 First phase of AIR's development was barely complete when the Second World War broke out. AIR had to gear itself to the demands of an entirely new situation. As soon as the war ended, AIR's planners turned their attention to future development. But like everything else, it had to wait till India's own future was settled. During the partition of the country and the exodus of vast masses of people, AIR did yeoman service to thousands of uprooted innocents, carrying to the people the comforting voice of the Father of the Nation.

2.4 Most memorable among the many broadcasts was the coverage of the Mid-night Ceremony marking the transfer of power. Shri Jawaharial Nebru, the first Prime Minister said:

"Long years ago we made tryst with destiny and now time comes when we shall redeem our pledge not wholly or in full measure, but very substantially. At the stroke of the mid-night hour, when the world sleeps, India will awake to Life and Freedom..."

2.5 In 1947, when India attained independence, AIR's network consisted of only 6 Stations, i.e., Delhi, Bombay, Calcutta, Madras, Lucknow and Tiruchi. With integration of princely States, AIR took over 5 stations of Aurangabad, Baroda, Hyderabad, Mysore and Trivandrum. The Five Year Plans gave a new impetus to the growth of broadcasting resulting in a phenomenal expansion. Today, the magnitude of AIR's network is mind- boggling. It comprises 105 Regional Stations, 72 Local Radio Stations and 31 Vividh Bharati Centres besides External Services (In 16 foreign and 8 Indian languages), the National Channel, the North Eastern Service and the FM Stereo Service at the four metros and Panaji.

2.6 The fare offered on the primary channel network of All India Radio includes the following broad categories of programmes:
Music
Devotional
Classical-Indian & Western
Folk/Pop/Light
Film
News and Current Affairs.
Specific Audience Programmes (For Farmers, Women, Children, Youth, Industrial Workers)
Formal and Non-formal Education.
Development-oriented broadcasts in a variety of formats.
Sports Commentaries.
Programmes are broadcast in 20 Indian languages, and 146 dialects, besides English.

2.7 The News Services Division of AIR daily produces 89 bulletins in 19 languages which emanate from Delhi and are relayed by several AIR Stations. There are also 41 Regional News Units which bring out 134 bulletins everyday, in 64 languages/dialects. The Division also produces current affairs programmes.

Hardware

2.8 When India became independent, AIR's network had a total complement of only 18 transmitters, six of them on medium wave (MW) and the remaining on short wave (SW). At present, AIR possesses 148 MW, 51 SW and 94 FM transmitters. Through its medium wave transmitters, AIR reaches 94 per cent of the population. On the completion of 5th Plan (1992-97) projects, AIR will have 171 MW, 55 SW and 128 FM transmitters.

2.9 All India Radio is utilising satellite radio networking (RN) Channels for distribution of programmes to Stations spread over the entire country. All the Stations are capable of receiving the RN signals, through receiver terminals in S- band. In addition, C-band down link is also available at certain important Stations and, HPTs carrying the external services. Programmes thus received are rebroadcast by terrestrial transmitters of AIR. CXS band uplinks are operating from Delhi and almost all the capital Stations for regional uplinking. One additional channel for use by Vividh arati Service is uplinked from AIR's TRACT, the mobile uplink terminal. TRACTs are also being used for the coverage of important events and sports commentaries, two recent examples being the Wills World Cup and Thyagaraja Aradhana Festival from Tiruvaiyaru (Tamil Nadu). Single channel uplinks from major programme production centres were installed. AIR has a captive uplink station at Broadcasting House, New Delhi for CXU uplink. Sixteen major AIR centres have C-band receive facility as well.

2.10 FM has several advantages over the conventional MW transmitters such as uniformity in the extent of coverage both during day and night, interference-free quality of reception. In India, VHF-FM band remained unexploited till the late seventies. FM transmitters were established at four metros, in a phased manner-Madras (1977), Calcutta and Bombay (1980) and Delhi (1984). At present FM stereo service is available at the four metropolitan cities round the clock. AIR Panama also has FM stereo service for nine hours. AIR Jalandhar and AIR Cuttack too have FM service but do not yet have stereophonic broadcasting capability. The growth of AIR network in terms of number of stations and transmitters and medium wave cover- age is given in the Annexure-IV. The important milestone events are given in Annexure-V.

2.11 The External Services Division of All India Radio broadcasts programmes in 24 languages-16 foreign and 8 Indian languages-for a total duration of 70 hours everyday, round-the- clock. Broadly speaking, the external services are aimed at four broad categories of listeners. These are:
i) Listeners in the neighbouring countries.
ii) Listeners of Indian origin served by broadcasts in different Indian languages (in Malaysia, Singapore, Fiji, Sri Lanka, Mauritius, etc.)
iii) The English-speaking population of the world served by the General Overseas Services (in English)
iv) Other foreign listeners in the target countries served through broadcasts in the respective languages.

2.12 All India Radio is unable to reach countries on the other side of the globe such as the United States of America, Canada, the Latin American Countries and the Caribbean. At present, AIR has no relay base which would enable it to originate transmissions from sites close to the intended targets. However, canned programmes are sent every week to ethnic broadcasting stations through the Indian Missions.

2.13 AIR has broken new ground when on 2nd May, 1996 it introduced on-line information service on the Internet. AIR's daily news update, commentary on current topics and highlights from Indian newspapers are being fed regularly, once a day, in text mode. The system and the 'home page' design have been carried out by the R&D Wing of AIR. This service on Internet has received worldwide acclaim, especially from the non-resident Indians in different parts of the world.

2.14 News bulletins are included in every language service. Besides these, bulletins, commentaries on topical subjects presenting India's point of view on international affairs are put out. Editorial comments appearing in the national and world Press are also broadcast in the form of Press Review.

2.15 The avowed objective, of the external services is to project the image of a modem, vibrant and resurgent India, highlighting the country's secular ideals and progress achieved in different spheres of activity. Recent shifts in India's policy, particularly in the economic sphere, such as liberlisation and a market-friendly approach are being projected. The external service also serves as an emotional link with the people of Indian origin living or settled abroad.

Doordarshan

2.16 Television in India took faltering steps in 1959. This delayed entry was due to the misconception prevalent in the fifties that television is a luxury which only the more advanced and affluent countries in the world can afford. But there was also realisation of the immense potential of television as an instrument of rapid socioeconomic transformation.

2.17 Television made a small beginning as a result of three developments. First, there was an offer form M/s Philips & Co. to sell a part of its equipment which they had exhibited at the Industrial Fair in New Delhi in 1995. Secondly, UNESCO, as part of its programme to assist member States, agreed to help in establishing a pilot television centre for carrying out studies in the use of this medium for social education. Thirdly, the United Sales' Government agreed to lend certain supplementary equipment. And so, in September 1959 India joined the small Asian community of TV nations.

2.18 In October 1959 an agreement was signed with UNESCO providing a grant of US $ 20,000 to be utilised towards programme production, training, organisation of teleclubs for community viewing, supply of TV receivers. for the teleclubs and evaluation of project. The project was described in the agreement as:

"An experiment for assessing the value of different types of educational television programmes suitable for group viewing in rural and urban communities in such a way that the results of such an assessment may be useful not only for India but also for other Asian countries in the use of television for community education."

2.19 In 1961, educational television was launched for the Delhi schools for which the Ford Foundation gave a grant of US $ 4,74,000. At present, regular school TV programmes are produced and telecast from Delhi, Bombay and Madras Kendras. E-TV programmes are also telecast form a number of States in different languages covering both formal (curriculum based) and non-formal (towards enrichment) education. The software for these programmes is produced by the Central Institute of Education Technology (CIET), Delhi and the State Institutes of Education Technology. To cater to students in villages and small towns the University Grants Commission (UGC) has a 'country-wide class room', putting out programmes on the National Network both in the morning and the afternoon. Syllabus based programmes for the students of Indira Gandhi Open University are also being telecast on the National Network.

2.20 The year 1982 witnessed the introduction of a regular satellite link between Delhi and different transmitters, the introduction of Colour T.V. and the process of the National Programmes and Doordarshan switching to colour transmission. The major impetus for these developments was the Asian Games held in Delhi in 1982.

2.21 After 1982, there was rapid expansion owing to the setting up of Low Power Transmitters (LPT) throughout the country. The number of transmitters grew form 46 to 553 in just one decade.

2.22 In 1984, a second channel was added at Delhi to provide an alternate viewing facility. This facility has been extended to viewers in Bombay, Calcutta and Madras. In 1993, these four terrestrial transmitters were interlinked through a satellite to provide more entertainment for the urban audiences. This service known as
DD-2 Metro Entertainment Channel has been extended to many more cities and now nearly 125 million people can -receive programmes on this channel terrestrially and the rest through the use of dish antenna.

2.23 To met the regional aspirations, 10 regional language satellite channels were introduced by Doordarshan. The regional services are available terrestrially in the respective States. What is more, as the footprints of the INSAT satellites cover the whole country, regional language programmes are available thought the country regardless of one's place of residence.

2.24 Doordarshan launched its International Channel with effect from 14th March, 1995. Doodarshan has entered into an agreement with Panamsat for three transponders for this channel on two Panamsat satellites. The first is on the South Asia Middle East beam on PAS-4 which covers India, South Asia, Middle East and parts of the Europe and on PAS-1 conus beam over North America. In some of these countries there are restrictions on using dish antenna, which curtails the actual coverage. Doordarshan is currently transmitting a three-hour daily service-scheduled to be increased by one hour-known as DD-India. On 7th April, 1995 Doordarshan introduced the Movie Channel bringing to the viewers feature films in Hindi, regional languages and English. A round-the-clock service of news and current affairs commenced on 30th June, 1995 facilitated by an agreement with Turner International entered into by Doordarshan, the former paying an annual fee of US $1.5 million to Doordarshan for the use of its transponder and both sharing the commercial revenue. As per the agreement, Doordarshan and CNN will have access to each other's footage. Doordarshan has been utilising only the part of the four-hour window on the DD-CNNI channel and CNN has not yet been given time on the terrestrial channel for any of their programmes. The tenure of the agreement is two years.

2.25 Today Doordarshan has emerged as one of the largest broadcasting networks of the world, with over 700 terrestrial transmitters, utilising 17 transponders on the INSAT satellites. A staggering 300 million people in the country watch a variety of Doordarshan programmes in different languages and formats. The growth of Doordarshan is given in Annexure-VI while the major landmarks are indicated in Annexure-VII.

Public Service Obligation

2.26 From the very inception, both AIR & Doordarshan were wedded to public service broad- casting. In the sphere of instructional programmes, both have made signal contribution. Beginning from the Pune experiment involving radio rural frorums in the fifties to recent experiments in interactive communication on a variety of themes such as social forestry, conscientious parenthood, non-formal education and agricultural innovation, AIR has a commendable record. Both the organisations played a tangible role in accelerating the process of transfer of technology from lab to land. The Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) was acclaimed. the world over the and had emeraged as a model for others to emulate. Doordarshan has been actively involved in social advertising and has set up for the purpose the Lok Seva Sanchar Parishad, a voluntary body with people from the fields of media and marketing. Some of the quickies, spots and short films produced under the logo of the Parishad such as Mile Sur, Raag Desh and Freedom Run one plaudits. Each of them was an epitome of creative excellence and made an indelible impact on the audiences.

2.27 Whatever be the future structure of AIR & Doordarshan, social responsibility and public service idealism should continue to be their hallmark. A developing country can ill-afford to give up this obligation, the strong dictates of financial self-reliance notwithstanding. With the emergence of transnational broadcasting and the scramble for ratings followed by the lure of quick pickings, the need for public service broadcasting is accentuated.

Commercial Broadcasting

2.28 The Committee on Broadcasting and Information Media, popularly known as Chanda Committee, made specific recommendations in April, 1966, as far as AIR is concerned that "for additional resources for expanding the network and improving the programmes, advertising would be the most fruitful source of revenue. Advertising should be accepted under certain safeguards ......" As regards television, the Committee observed that "as revenue from licence fee would be insufficient for the recurring cost of the service, the acceptance of advertising would be necessary to supplement licence revenue".

2.29 Realising that it is imperative to generate resources internally to overcome the frustrating sense of dependence on the Treasury for funds needed for the expansion of the network and its modernisation, All India Radio introduced the Commercial Broadcasting Service with effect from Ist November, 1967. Vividh Bharati, which is a light entertainment service with a preponderance of film music, was considered pre-eminently suitable as a carrier of the commercial service. However, to ensure that. advertisements are not jarring or obtrusive, AIR introduced a restriction on the quantum of ad. content and a code for commercial broadcasting.

2.30 There are now 30 Vividh Bharati-cum- Commercial Broadcasting Centres in the country. During the 7th Plan (1950-90), no new Vividh Bharati Centre was established as the accent during this period was on setting up local radio stations. During the 8th Plan period (1992-97), 10 Vividh Bharati Centres 'are being set up. Of these, Varanasi and Cochi have been commissioned.

2.31 Commercials were introduced with effect from lst April, 1982 on the Primary Channel before the national news bulletin in Hindi and after the national news bulletin in English, both in the morning and the evening. However, at present, commercials go on the air only before the 8.00 A.M. Hindi bulletin and after the 9.00 P.M. English bulletin. With effect from 26th January, 1985, commercials were introduced over 55 Primary Channel Stations. In a phased manner, commercials were extended to most of the Primary Channel Stations. Recently, Local Radio Stations were also thrown open to commercials.

2.32 Commercials were introduced an Doordarshan from Ist January, 1976 from its Delhi Kendra and were extended to other kendras. Increase in Dooroarshan advertisement revenue was spectacular as can be seen from the following table:

Gross revenue earnings of Akashyani (Vividh Bharati and Primary Channel networks and Doordarshan are given in Annexure-VIII

2.33 Both AIR and Doordarshan are caught in a dilemma with the Government insisting on mobilisation of maximum resources internally. It is tempting to stray form the path of public service broadcasting. After the advent of satellite TV channels' an impression had gained ground that Doordarshan is more inclined to offer frothy entertainment relegating development-oriented programmes to the background. The task of evolving a judicious blend of these seemingly conflicting requirements is indeed a tough one.

Credibility

2.34 AIR and Doordarshan, despite their excellent track record in the realm of public service broadcasting, find themselves vulnerable to criticism when it comes to news and news based programmes, including current affairs. The question naturally arises: to what extent is the criticism warranted?

2.35 There is a duality in the character and functioning of the so-called official media. On the one hand, their position as a organ of the Government places on it the responsibility to project the policies and objectives of the Government. As an extended arm of publicity for the Government, it presents and emphasises viewpoints which the Government is anxious to place before the people. In a climate of conformity, controversial issues get elbowed out or glossed over. In the tussle between providing a service which will be lively and provocative and the constant desire to play safe, one tends to take shelter behind the maxim 'prudence is better part of valour.

2.36 In the listeners' mind, AIR and Doordarshan are inevitably identified with the Government. Disenchantment with any aspect of Government's policy or activity has a bearing on one's reaction to the programmes. There is a predisposition among the people to presume that whatever comes from an official source should be treated merely as one side of the picture. Even in the innocuous area of development communication, when the recommended inputs are not available at the field level, it is the credibility of the official media which is unfortunately eroded. It is not uncommon for the Press to adopt a any-stick-is-good-enough-to-beat-a-dog-with attitude towards these media.

2.37 Credibility of AIR and Doordarshan touched the rock bottom during the Emergency period; admittedly, it was an aberration. But it took quite some time to restore public faith. In a survey conducted by the In-house audience Research Wing after the Emergency in 1977, the following elements of credibility were perceived by the audience:
a) Medium should be impartial;
b) It should be truthful;
c) It should have a balanced approach;
d) It should have objectivity in the coverage of events;
e) It should give an equal opportunity to all the viewpoints including criticism of the Government.

Once bitten twice shy as they say. It is the blatant misuse of mass media during the Emergency that lent an urgency to the demand for granting of autonomy to AIR and Doordarshan.

2.38 The Working Group on Software for Doordarshan constituted in December, 1982 under the Chairmanship of Dr. P.C.Joshi made the following observations:

"It is regrettable that Doordarshan and AIR should be so identified as organs of official policy and news rather than as non-partisan, professional purveyors of all significant news of general interest which a citizen in a democracy needs in order to arrive at informed judgements..... The choice of themes for the current affairs programmes is governed by the same timidity and self-censorship which make the news bulletins. The scope of the subjects is narrowly limited to those which are currently of interest to Government and, with rare exceptions, also non-controversial".

Copious excerpts from the recommendations of this Working Group are given in the Annexure-IX.

Verghese Committee and After

2.39 The Working group on Autonomy for Akashvani and Doordarshan, popularly known as the Verghese Committee, was constituted in the wake of the stranglehold of the Government on the media during the Emergency. Public opinion asserted itself in favour of creation of an independent professional body, protected from the day-to-day incursions of politics and free from the rigid regimen of rules and regulations of the Government. The recommendations of the Group concerning the setting up such an autonomous body, is reproduced hereunder:

"An autonomous broadcasting organisation nationally owned and responsible to Parliament and yet under the Centre legislatively and for purposes of international relations through external broadcast and frequency allocations, and P & T and Space support, appears logical and desirable" "We are of the opinion that all the national broadcasting services should be vested exclusively in an independent, impartial and autonomous organisation established by Parliament to act as a trustee for the national interest".

2.40 The Verghese Committee reported that there were 20 million radio receivers and 600,000 television sets and projected that there might be 12 - 18 million TV sets by the turn of the century. This was in 1978. The picture today is totally different. There are now an estimated number of 110 million radio and 52 million TV households. Of the latter, 9 million TV homes have access to satellite television, according to 1995 estimates.

2.41 A major premise of the Group was the monopolistic situation obtaining in the country when they were studying the issue of setting up of an autonomous broadcasting corporation. The Group observed:

"Since we do not conceive of a totally competitive broadcasting system and since we are thinking in terms of a largely monopolistic system, some restraint on autonomy is inevitable."

2.42 The media-morphosis that had occurred in the country after 1978 was indeed remarkable. No wonder the Prasar Bharati Act made a considerable departure from the 'Akash Bharati' as conceived by the Verghese Committee. An extract from the recommendations of this Committee is given in Annexure-X.
Chapter 1
Chapter 3
Chapter 4
Chapter 5
Chapter 6
Chapter 7

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