Why Doordarshan Failed | Doordarshan Downfall Explained

With the increase of technology and advancement in the broadcast industry, government funding channels such as Doordarshan need to be more outspoken. The Indian TV industry has grown massively, as of today, there are around 890 channels.

Like every other household has a television in their houses, the demand for more variety in channels increased which resulted in India being the third-largest market across the world, right after China and the US. However, Doordarshan was not inclined toward this race. The channel lost a large proportion of viewers, mainly because of satellite TV.

There was a time when Doordarshan reached over 90 percent of households in the country, but with such huge channel options, it is not preferred by most households.

The triggering fact is, that this isn't limited to Doordarshan only, almost every government-based organization such as BSNL and AIR, lost audiences and customers in a very large number.

As private organizations are facing extreme difficulty in surviving in the market, competition has risen massively. Because of this, the government established a committee under Sam Pitroda to improve the marketing strategies and revenue styles in Prasar Bharati, under which Doordarshan is controlled. However, there is still a long run for Doordarshan to boost up its revenue source and face the growing competition in the market.

Since private television channels were allowed in 1991, Doordarshan has seen a sharp drop in viewership. Despite generating substantial advertising revenue from mandatory broadcasts of major national events, such as cricket matches, there has been a proposal to introduce a television ownership license fee in India to support its funding.

Now, this brings us to the main content of this article, that is, how Doordarshan was the biggest marketing channel, what went wrong, and why it failed. So, let’s get started!

History of Doordarshan

Doordarshan started as an experimental broadcaster in the year 1959, with a small transmitter along with a makeshift studio. It is the first-ever TV channel in India, also called the Free Dish as being a free entertainment platform.

Within a few years, Doordarshan became a huge success in the broadcast industry and reached over 25 million households. It covered all fields such as information & news, education, entertainment, and others.

The reason why Doordarshan was praised so much by the Indian audience was that it carried the interests of all the geographical, linguistic, and cultural groups. With time, Doordarshan grew into a large network of 36 satellite channels, which provided a free DTH service of 110 in its Bouquet.

What Led to the Downfall of Doordarshan

The Massive Decline in Doordarshan’s Ratings

With the growing demand for commercialization, Doordarshan began auctioning slots to private broadcasters. This resulted in 80 channels, 24 DD, and around 25 private with auctioning every month. However, this didn't turn out as expected as a large portion of Doordarshan's audience base shifted massively towards the private broadcasters. This led to a massive decline in the ratings and revenue of DD.

Disastrous Advertising Model

The advertising model of Doordarshan was a bit of a disaster for it as it stipulated that the private channels would not share their revenue with the DD platform. So, earlier, the private channels paid INR 8 crore per annum to DD Free Dish for transmission, annually which generated INR 2,500 crore in its total revenue, and became zero after its new advertising model.

This resulted in the fall of Doordarshan's advertising revenue from INR 1,301 crore to INR 475.7 crore. And among this, around INR 318.06 crore entirely came from government ads so the final revenue that DD generated was INR 157.59 crores.

Absence of Proper Marketing Division

Another big flaw in the marketing strategy of Doordarshan is the lack of a proper and independent marketing division. And because of this, when the private channel charged INR 90,000 to INR 1.2 lakh for a 10-second slot, Doordarshan charged merely INR 65,000 for the same slot.

They didn't have any team for strategic planning, research, advertising, internet handling, product management, branding, or any other. This played a major role in the downfall of Doordarshan and gave major advantages to private channels.

Conclusion

In conclusion, we can say that there was a time when Doordarshan used to rule the broadcast industry in India. But to stand still in the market, one needs to adapt to the advancement in technology and marketing. And Doordarshan failed in both of these. Plus, as being funded by the Government it did not make enough profit and in fact, runs in a loss.

The former Prasar Bharti chief Jawhar Sircar blamed the incompetence, poorly backed policies, and lack of ambition, for the failure of Doordarshan rather than the competition. The irony here is, that most of the famous shows preset on Doordarshan were created by private producers.

When they found better opportunities, they grasped onto them. For now, the best strategic planning of Doordarshan is to take the BBC model to enhance its marketing planings and strategies. Stay tuned for more such content!

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FAQ

When Doordarshan started?

Doordarshan was started on 15th September 1959.

What is Doordarshan?

Doordarshan is an Indian state-owned public television broadcaster founded by the Government of India.

What caused the steep decline in Doordarshan viewership?

As the private channels entered the market Doordarshan experienced a steep decline.

How many viewers does Doordarshan have?

In 2021, TV viewership was more than 6 Billion and the channels reached more than 680 million viewers in 2021.

Is Doordarshan still active?

Yes, Doordarshan is still active and has a network operating 34 satellite channels.