India’s public service broadcaster has been receiving accolades and praises from all over the world for its multidimensional approach to public broadcasting during the current pandemic related.

A key element of this approach is combining high frequency infomercials on covid- 19 along with iconic TV shows based on Indian Epics such as RAMAYAN, MAHABHARAT,CHANAKYA etc. Similarly, All India Radio (AIR) ,the radio service of Prasar Bharati has been regularly broadcasting the government advisories at high frequency while engaging celebrated authors such as Mr. Ruskin Bond to use the power of radio for some old fashioned book reading and story telling.

The re-telecast of RAMAYAN has seen more than 200 million viewers tuning during the entire episode while the highest viewed episode with a viewership of 77 million viewership set a global record of sorts.

The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) on 28-4-2020 published an article titled “Coronavirus lockdown creates captive audience for 80’s show ”highlighting how the series engaged audiences across India during the nationwide lockdown

The link for WSJ Story on Prasar Bharati: https://www.wsj.com/articles/coronavirus-lockdown-creates-captive-audience-for-80s-show-11588082808