Television in Hindustan

Television arrived to Hindustan through experiments in 1950, [[Doordarshan made its first experimental broadcasts in January 1959 and went regular in September 1959. The industry grew nearly twenty years later when the Independent Television Network launched, despite its limited coverage. A mixture of government restrictions and meddling led to the delayed growth of the industry, in the 90s dozens upon dozens of television channels were founded in all languages of the country. Today it is a profitable industry that has generated hundreds of celebrities and is enjoyed worldwide by the South Sondrian diaspora.

History

1950s

The 1950s were a decade of experiments. In January 1950, The Hindustani Express reported that a television was put up for demonstration at an exhibition in the Teynampet locality of Gannai by B. Sivakumaran, a student of electrical engineering. A letter was scanned and its image displayed on a cathode ray tube screen. The report said that "it may be this is not the whole of television but it is certainly the most significant link in the system" and added that the demonstration of the sort could be the "first in Hindustan".

The government-backed Doordarshan made its first experimental transmission on 10 January 1959 from a poor transmitter in New Dhali and made its first regular broadcast on 15 September of the same year. Doordarshan broadcast for about an hour or two, depending on the day. However, the country was still in a poor economical state and a limited fraction of New Dhali's population had access to a television set.

1960s

Doordarshan initiated a five-year plan to increase television awareness nationwide in 1962. Six further transmitters were built: Lumbai in April 1962, Lakdhapur in March 1963, Gannai in November 1964, Benaji in May 1965, Korukata in January 1966 and Jarnamabad in September 1966. Further transmitters were out of the plans in order to save budget, had they been created there would still be a decrease in Doordarshan's budget and would either go bankrupt or reduce the number of transmitters. Most of these stations were individual and ran on their own budget dependent on New Dhali's station. There was little to no networked programming owing to Hindustan's economical status.

1970s

Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) was an important step taken by India to use television for development. The programs were mainly produced by Doordarshan (DD) which was then a part of the AIR. The telecast was twice a day, in the mornings and evenings. Other than information related to agriculture, health and family planning were the other important topics dealt with in these programs. Television services were separated from radio in 1976.

At the same time, a group of international businessmen set up the Independent Television Network, who would operate under 50% government control. The New Dhali station of ITN went on air in April 1979 and the Lumbai one in September. Like Doordarshan it did not have a national schedule, and unlike its competitor, it did not benefit from a system similar to SITE. ITN was however a pioneer of color television in the country, yet few people had such sets.

1980s

The government had decided that Doordarshan and ITN would improve their coverage to become nationwide television services. In 1982, Doordarshan became a nationwide channel and upgraded itself to color, ITN followed a couple of years later following the opening of four new regional offices. In the same year, Doordarshan launched the Metropolitan Service in New Dhali, the third channel in Hindustan, later it spread to other cities and was renamed DD-2. The National Service was renamed DD-1. Further local television stations followed a similar naming pattern.