INDIAN TV IN THE SERVICE OF GENERAL PUBLIC

  It is often condemned as a corrupting influence on Indian culture and values; it is dubbed as the idiot box but there is no denying the fact that Indian TV has done a great service to the nation ever since its advent,but in particular after the arrival of satellite TV.

Remember the days of black and white transmissions and the days when TV sets were a rare luxury?Today, its uniquitous presence has become an integral part of most Indian Households. In fact, TV like the mobile phone, has proved to be great leveller of society-the poor enjoy it as much as the rich do.

What is the secret of Indian TV's magical pull? Well first of all it is available 24 hours a day,7 day a week and 12 months in a year. It has a lot of variety-more than 100 channels in all major Indian languages; and caters to all sort of genres-soap operas,music,health,cinema,fashion,religion,news,events,family drama,films and films songs. There are separate 24x7 news channels, religious channels,sports channels and educational channels or programmes.

There are reality TV programmes, environmental and knowledge channels like National Geographic,Animal Planet and Discovery and Children specific channels like Cartoon Network,Pogo,Nicklodean,Kermit,Hungama TV.

Indian TV has become more and more interactive. Viewers take part in celebrity shows, choose their favourite heroes/heroins,music idols,sports stars and give their opinion on social and national issues.

But I think the greatest service Indian TV has done to the nation is its campaign against criminals and corruption. Ever since the tehelka Expose,there has been a flood of such programmes on all the major networks. TV Channels now-a-days vie with each other in wooing their viewers through their live and exclusive programmes. Through surveys,SMS responses and advertisements,Indian TV has brought about great public awareness.

Thus Indian TV has done a marvellous job in strengthening the diverse yet unified democratic characters of the country.