Doordarshan the ‘most watched channel’ in India

Wednesday 10 Aug 2011
India’s national TV service, Doordarshan, is the most watched channel in the country, CM Jatua, Minister of State, Information and Broadcasting Ministry, has told parliament, the Hindustan Times reports.

Replying to a question in the lower house, he said this had been found during a Doordarshan Audience Research Television Ratings’ (DART) weeklong survey from 22 to 28 May.

The survey was based on the television rating points of Doordarshan and India’s private TV channels, he said.

Private TV channels are not considered competitors to Doordarshan as the primary mandate of Prasar Bharati (the body under the information and broadcasting ministry that controls DD and All India Radio) is public service broadcasting, the minister said in his reply.

The government doesn’t review the content, quality and popularity of programmes as selection of content to be carried on private channels is left to the discretion of the management of those channels. However, all private TV channels are required to adhere to the Programme and Advertising Codes prescribed under the Cable TV Networks (Regulation) Act.

Doordarshan slightly lags behind in terms of television rating points as per data collected by Television Audience Measurement (TAM). However, measurement of viewership conducted by TAM doesn’t account for viewership in rural India.

The committee formed by the I&B ministry to recommend new ways for accurate calculation of television rating points and TV ratings has recommended an increase in sample size from 8,000 homes to 30,000.