Television in India has come a long way from its humble beginnings in 1959 with only some form of experimental broadcasts to becoming a flourishing sector with more than 800 channels today. Doordarshan, the public service broadcaster started off w...

Television in India has come a long way from its humble beginnings in 1959 with only some form of experimental broadcasts to becoming a flourishing sector with more than 800 channels today. Doordarshan, the public service broadcaster started off with socio-educational experiments have become a multi-channel network with an international channel, multiple regional channels catering to diverse linguistic and ethnic groups, and seven all-India channels. Rommani Sen Shitak examines the changes that have taken place in public service broadcasting in India w.r.t Doordarshan in the realm of policies, financing, programming, and organizational aspects. Supported by in-depth interviews conducted with broadcasters, media academics, and journalists, the author provides a detailed analysis of the strategies implemented by Doordarshan when faced with its biggest challenge in the form of competition from private networks.