Doordarshan, established on September 15, 1959, marked the start of India’s broadcasting period. As an autonomous public service broadcaster below the Authorities of India, it is among the two divisions of Prasar Bharati. In the present day, Doordarshan stays India’s largest broadcasting entity, with an enormous community of studios and transmitters. It offers tv, on-line, and cellular providers, reaching each metropolitan and regional areas, in addition to worldwide audiences.
Doordarshan started as a modest experiment in public service telecasting. The then President of India, Shri Rajendra Prasad inaugurated the primary broadcast on September 15, 1959. In 1959, a number one European firm exhibited its closed-circuit TV tools at a world exposition. On the finish of the expo, the tools was gifted to the folks of India.
The experiment grew to become a daily service in 1965 when Doordarshan started beaming indicators to properties in and across the nation’s capital, New Delhi. By 1972 providers had been prolonged to Mumbai and Amritsar and by 1975, to seven extra cities. Until 1975 it was part of All India Radio. On April 1, 1976, it remodeled to turn into a separate Division within the Ministry of Data and Broadcasting and later got here below Prasar Bharati.
A brand new signature picture was designed by the Nationwide Institute of Design and a signature tune was created by Pandit Ravi Shankar. The primary telecast in color befell on August 15, 1982, when the nationwide program began.
Over time Doordarshan has grown right into a community working 35 satellite tv for pc channels out of which 6 are All India channels and are 22 Regional Channels(24X7). Additionally, DD operates 6 Regional (Non 24X7) and 1 Worldwide Channel. There are complete no. of 59 transmitters. Along with above stations, Doordarshan is working DD DTH service “DD Free Dish” from Earth Station, Todapur, Delhi.

Doordarshan’s timeless tales and impeccable storytelling are unmatched. Regardless of restricted assets and know-how, reveals like Ramayana, Mahabharat, Hum Log, Buniyaad, Malgudi Days, and Udaan set a benchmark for high quality content material. Doordarshan has delivered content material to generations and continues to play an important function in creating consciousness.

India’s public broadcaster amidst the COVID-19 pandemic and subsequent lockdown collaborated with varied State Authorities establishments, together with All India Radio to broadcast digital courses and different academic content material via their regional channels throughout the nation on TV, Radio, and YouTube. Within the absence of faculty courses, these digital courses helped lakhs of scholars, particularly the tenth and twelfth commonplace college students in preparation for his or her board and aggressive examinations.
Additionally, to continue to learn an attention-grabbing exercise, aside from the curriculum content material, digital courses in a number of states included storytelling by eminent personalities and quiz reveals.
Expertise improve in DD
Doordarshan Kisan has launched two AI anchors — AI Krish and AI Bhoomi. These AI anchors make Doordarshan Kisan the primary authorities TV channel in India to make use of synthetic intelligence on this manner. The AI anchors are designed to look and practical identical to human presenters, able to delivering information 24/7 with out breaks. AI anchors can communicate 50 languages.

DD FreeDish DTH service is owned and operated by Public Service Broadcaster Prasar Bharati. DD FreeDish is the one Free-to-Air (FTA) Direct-To-House (DTH) service the place there isn’t a month-to-month subscription payment from the viewers. It is extremely reasonably priced for all because it requires solely a small one-time funding of about Rs. 1500/- to 2000/- for buying of Set-top-Field (STB) and small-sized Dish Antenna with equipment.
In line with, FICCI-EY As of January 2024, DD Free Dish hosted 167 MPEG2 (the generic coding of transferring footage and related audio info) channels together with 37 Doordarshan channels, 51 academic channels and 79 personal channels, aside from 22 MPEG4 channels. This distinctive free to air mannequin of DD Free Dish has made it the biggest DTH platform and immediately DD Free Dish reaches to about 45 million households (as per the FICCI E&Y report 2023).

Highlights
- To embark the 65 superb years of Doordarshan a social media marketing campaign #DilseDD@65 has been began. Below which the mission and imaginative and prescient of DD is being shared with the viewers within the type of video.
- DD is now providing a various vary of packages to each entertain and educate its viewers. Viewers can begin their day with the Divya Darshan of Ramlalla at 6:00 am, immersing themselves within the stay broadcast of the Holy Aarti from Ayodhya. The channel additionally options a wide range of religious and spiritual reveals, together with Usha Parinaya, Aradhana, Mahabharat, Sai Baba, and Sankat Mochan Hanuman.
- For youthful viewers, DD has launched each day soaps equivalent to Fashions and Hum Toh Center Class Hain Ji. Moreover, the channel is showcasing new and offbeat packages like Cyber Crime ki Duniya Bach Ke Rehna, Desi Rasoi Se, and Khet Khet Mein.
- The Authorities has authorised continuation of the Central Sector Scheme “Broadcasting Infrastructure and Community Improvement” with an outlay of Rs. 2539.61 crore for the interval 2021-26 with varied parts together with growth of attain of public service broadcasting in distant, tribal, Left-Wing Extremism, border areas, aspirational districts and different such areas of strategic/nationwide significance.
- Primarily based on the theme of Naye Bharat Ka Naya Doordarshan, Doordarshan aired a mega historic present titled Swaraj- Bharat Ke Swatantrata Sangram Ki Samagra Gatha, a 75 episodes mega present illustrating the fantastic historical past of India’s freedom battle.
- Through the covid lockdown, Doordarshan touched new data when it comes to viewership. The previous iconic serials had been re-broadcast on DD Nationwide and DD Bharati.
- In one more step to make your entire DD Community related to the altering occasions, DD SPORTS has turn into DD SPORTS HD. This has enabled the viewers to look at the telecast of the main worldwide sporting occasions in Excessive-Definition transmission.
- Prasar Bharati performs a vital function in nation constructing and lays steady give attention to offering significant and correct content material to every person, each throughout the nation and overseas. (As of December 2023) Prasar Bharati has signed 46 variety of MoUs with totally different nations
- For the state of Arunachal Pradesh, DD Arunprabha channel was launched by Hon’ble Prime Minister on ninth February 2019.
- On March 07, 2022, India’s public broadcaster Prasar Bharati signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ‘Yupp TV’, an over-the-top (OTT) platform, which is a gateway for tv viewers throughout the globe. With this, DD India is now obtainable on the OTT platform of Yupp TV in USA, UK, Europe, Center East, Singapore, Australia and New Zealand.
- With the altering occasions Doordarshan is reinventing itself and has come out with a brand new appear and feel. DD Nationwide, the flagship channel of Doordarshan Community has began numerous new programmes. For the primary time Bollywood’s showman Subhash Ghai has include a TV collection known as Jaanki.
- DD Nationwide has taken a number of new initiatives like beginning each day Hindi characteristic movie, a morning journal present – DD Morning Present, and reinventing Chitrahaar and Rangoli that are thought to be iconic programmes of Doordarshan.
- Mumbai-based Children YouTube channel PunToon Children has fashioned a partnership with Doordarshan to broadcast its content material on DD.
