There were only four channels available at prime time and they were all run by Doordarshan.
During the Gulf War, the people of India wanted to know about what was going on seeing as their country was involved. They were sick of being left in the dark and wanted to know what was happening to their people. This was the beginning of Satellite TV.
Soon Indians where being exposed to all sorts of media, which their normal Doordarshan channel didn’t show. Satellite had impacted hugely on society and at one point it was growing faster in India than anywhere else in the world. This links with the economic liberalisation of the country. The amount of people watching satellite TV rose from 1 million to 8 million in the space of two years. TV went up from four channels at prime time, to 35.
Another reason why satellite became so popular so quickly (other than being exposed to media) was due to cowboy cable operators. Wires were flung across rooftops and linked to satellite dishes, and then the wires were connected to other people’s homes, resulting in a cheap and almost free way to watch satellite TV.
One of the main TV channels on satellite was Star TV. Based in Hong Kong and owned by the multi-millionaire mogul, Rupert Murdoch, the channel was very successful in India.
Star TV transmitted programmes such as special music channels that were both modern and exciting. They appealed to young people, as opposed to the traditional, classical music served by Doordarshan.
The news showed was not censored, therefore a lot of people turned to this channel instead of Doordarshan.
However, most programmes broadcast on Star TV were based in America therefore the country couldn’t relate to the soaps and none of the dramas represented the lives of normal young Indians.
Another popular channel on Satellite TV was Zee TV. This was a privately owned Indian channel, which produced cheap but exciting programmes which appealed to a more modern audience.
It was the first ever Indian owned station and focused on things that Indians wanted therefore it became popular fairly quickly.
Zee TV showed programmes such as chat discussions which were similar to the British ‘Ricki Lake’. This impacted on India because the people living there started being more open and modern. They also began to discuss topics that they normally wouldn’t have.
Zee TV had horror shows and game shows, unlike the traditional Indian mythical shows on Doordarshan.
The highest viewer-ship on Zee TV was their Zee horror show. The channel had no censorship compared to Doordarshan and had fast paced adverts which featured actors in western clothes, which would never have be shown on Doordarshan.
Doordarshan had lost many viewers over the years and needed a way to gain their viewers back.
Although the content of Zee TV and Star TV opposed that of Doordarshan, the government didn’t try to ban satellite TV even though they easily could have, like other countries such as Iran and Malaysia.
The government didn’t do this and decided to compete instead by launching a new channel.
Doordarshan Metro was introduced, a terrestrial TV channel that offered a lot of shows similar to Zee TV, and was also not as censored as the original Doordarshan.
It aimed to attract a larger audience away from satellite TV and it succeeded.
The channel appealed to a younger and more modern Indian audience. It broadcast shows that were not only modern but reflected Indian life as it really was.
The ratings of Doordarshan were equal to that of Zee TV, which shows just how popular it became.
An example of a show on Doordarshan Metro was ‘Super-hit Muqabla’, which was an upbeat, fun and audience involving show.
Although Doordarshan Metro was still state run it allowed programmes with a different agenda that challenged the government.
In conclusion, Satellite TV impacted on Indian in a huge way. Indian people’s lifestyles use to revolve around family based traditions and people used to spend their time doing traditional Indian things.
However, Satellite TV opened up a whole new world for Indians, and helped them open up and do things differently. They were no longer being left in the dark or locked away from what was going on everywhere else, and for most people satellite is exactly what they needed.