DD National
Channel Name: DD
National
Launched:
September 15, 1959 (in India) May 17, 1971 (in Middle East)
Owned by:
Doordarshan
Country:
India
Network:
Doordarshan
Headquarters:
New Delhi, Delhi, India,
Sister channels:
DD National, DD News, DD Sports, DD Bharati, DD Metro.
Language: Hindi
and English
Website:
http://www.ddindia.gov.in/
DD National (DD1) is a state-owned
general interest terrestrial television channel in India. It is the flagship
channel of Doordarshan, the Indian public service broadcasting corporation, and
the most widely available terrestrial television channel in India.
Unlike
the BBC, DD National doesn't have editorial independence and is controlled by
the state and the ruling political party.
DD
National available in terrestrial mode from 5.30 am till midnight. In the
satellite mode, DD National is available round the clock. Major events like Republic
Day Parade, Independence Day Celebrations, National Award Presentation
ceremonies, President and Prime Minister’s addresses to the Nation, President’s
address to the joint session of Parliament, important Parliamentary debates,
Railway and General Budget presentations, Question Hour in Lok Sabha and Rajya
Sabha, Election results and analysis, swearing-in ceremonies, President and
Prime Minister’s visits abroad and visits of important foreign dignitaries to
India are covered live on DD National. Important sports events like Olympics,
Asian Games, Cricket Tests and One Day Internationals involving India and other
important sporting encounters are also telecast live.
The
education component is drawn from the contributions from varied sources such as
Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), University Grants Commission
(UGC), Central Institute of Educational Technology (CIET) and State Institutes
of Education Technology (SIET).
History: The
channel began broadcast on an experimental basis on September 15, 1959 from a
makeshift studio at Akashvani Bhavan in New Delhi as part of All India Radio.
It started with 20 television receivers in and around Delhi and transmitted one
hour educational and developmental programs twice a week. Regular daily
transmission started in 1965. In 1976, the Indian government constituted
"Doordarshan", the public television broadcaster, as a separate
department under the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.
In
1982, all of Doordarshan's regional stations were networked using INSAT 1A and
a national feed called National Programme was introduced. Later that year,
Delhi played host to Asian Games which were covered by the channel. To increase
the channel's reach, the government launched a program to set up low and high
power transmitters that would pick-up the satellite distributed signals and
re-transmit them to surrounding areas. By 1983, television signals were
available to 28% of the Indian population. Fueled by the success of the
channel's commercialization and increased revenue from advertising, the
channel's reach and popularity continued to grow and in 1990, the channel
reached more than 90% of the Indian population.[4]
Programming: For
the first few years after its inception, the channel only aired educational and
informative programs with news being one of the biggest draws. Once the
national feed started in 1982, the channel started airing regional and local
shows on time-sharing basis. For most Indian states, this meant one national
and one local news telecast. The channel soon started airing entertainment
shows and the popularity of some of the earliest series such as Hum Log,
film-based shows such as Chitrahaar and Hindi movies resulted in a gradual
increase in entertainment and commercial programming. Rangoli is the oldest
programme on DD National, dedicated to Classic Hindi songs.
Until
the mid-80s, channel transmission was limited to evenings only. On February 11,
1987, the channel introduced morning transmission with a two hour telecast.
This included ten minute news bulletins in Hindi and English apart from other
short shows. On January 1, 1989, afternoon transmission, aimed at housewives
and children, was launched.
The
channel's educational programming includes distance learning shows for UGC and
IGNOU as well as learning shows for kids sponsored by NCERT.
Since
late-90s, the channel broadcasts from 4:30 am IST till 2:00 am terrestrially
while the satellite feed is available 24 hours a day......More >>
