How did Doordarshan’s broadcast service reach millions of homes? Know unknown things about Doordarshan

Memorable logo-

 The “DD eye” i.e. eye of the universe logo was designed by Devashish Bhattacharya who studied at NID in the 1970s.  Among the various designs provided by NID, this logo was chosen by Indira Gandhi.  In May 2019, Prasar Bharti, the apex body of Indian national broadcasting, shortlisted five new designs for DD’s new logo.

 *Starting small-

 In 1959, Durdarshan was started as a pilot project from the Akashvani studio in Delhi by President Rajendra Prasad.  Two one-hour programs on sociology were broadcast on it for two days a week.

Small start-

 In 1959, Durdarshan was started as a pilot project from the Akashvani studio in Delhi by President Rajendra Prasad.  Two one-hour programs on sociology were broadcast on it for two days a week.

 – Daily broadcasting started in 1965 with morning and evening programmes.  A five-minute news bulletin also began.  In the following years four hours of daily broadcasting began.

 – In 1975, DD also started broadcasting in seven new cities including Mumbai and Amritsar.

 – In 1976, DD was separated from Akashvani now.

 – National broadcasting began in 1982, bringing color TVs to Indian homes

 – In 1984 new channels were launched in the now DD network including DD 2 now known as DD Metro.

 – In 1991, cable TV started and private TV channels were allowed and with it the viewership of Doordarshan started to decline.

 – In 2004, DD Free Dish was launched by DD, India’s only free DTH service.

 – In 2016, DD Free Dish was upgraded from Insat-4B satellite to Gsat-15 satellite to add more channels to its DTH free service.

Milestone programs-

 – 1967: Krishi Darshan program for farmers and rural viewers started on Republic Day;  Which has become the longest running program of India.

 – 1976: First TV serial called Ladoo Singh Taxiwala started on DD

 – 1982: Popular program Chitrahar started;  After six years, a program called Rangoli started

 – 1984: India’s first long weekly serial Hum Log started.  The serial dealing with the struggles of middle class life ran for 154 episodes.

 – 1987-1990: Ramanand Sagar’s Ramayana (1987-88) and B.  R.  Chopra’s Mahabharata (1988–90) was a hit with the audience and set new ratings and revenue records.  R.K.  The 1987 serial Malgudi Days based on Narayan’s stories was also loved by the audience.

 – 1994: A serial based on the fictional story Chandrakanta started every Sunday morning on DD National

 – 1997: Shaktimaan, the first superhero serial made in Hindi, started on DD National.  The Mukesh Khanna starrer serial became very popular but also caused controversy due to kids doing dangerous stunts like him.

Doordarshan’s first-

 – Pratima Puri: Became the first newsreader in 1965 when DD launched a five-minute news bulletin.

 – Shah Rukh Khan: Going on to become a superstar, Shah Rukh made his acting debut in DD National’s Fauji serial in 1989.

 – Karen Lunell: Lyril rose to fame as an ad girl bathing and dancing in soapy waterfalls.  Its first advertisement was produced by Lintas in 1985 and released as a commercial on TV.  In this ad, Karan was only taken along to the shoot location as a backup model, but her performance was overshadowed.

 *Doordarshan Popular Tunes-

 His signature tune reminiscent of Doordarshan was composed in 1976 by Pandit Ravi Shankar and Ustad Ali Ahmad Khan.  Hrithik Roshan recalling and performing this memorable tune in Milegi Dubara from the 2011 film Zindagi is also memorable.  In March 2019, a video of @Vaishakhdancer09 dancing uniquely to the opening music of DD News went viral on social media.

Today’s Doordarshan-

 Doordarshan’s network has expanded tremendously over the years and now has 36 satellite channels and 110 channels of its own on free DTH service.  Doordarshan, which started from Akashvani’s small studio, has now spread to every corner of the country and has 66 modern studio centers.  Major 17 studios are located in the state capital and Durdarshan is being telecasted from 49 studios in other cities.