Before knowing about the impact of satellite TV/Dish TV, let’s imagine today’s scenario where without TV or dish TV, every house has a TV and that is connected to a dish TV be it sun direct or Airtel. When TV satellites were introduced in the year 1965 there were very less programmes aired Earlier one could see good reality shows and informative programmes.
But now there are shows which have obscene scenes that cannot be viewed without feeling uncomfortable be it with family or friends. Such waste of time and these bad programs influences teenagers in a bad way and they turn out be criminals and monsters. May be its time to rethink it’s the perspective of those teenagers that makes them see these bad programmes not televisions per say but yes there are certain programs that
Till the breakout after gulf war only Doordarshan was the only channel that was available and most of the couples and families used to watch serials like Mahabharata and Ramayana. Also there were tele-series like surabhi which showcased mostly from Kashmir to Kanyakumari. Also there were other series like “Buniyaad”, “Neem ke ped” and “Hum log” which mingled with mind sets, culture, community and wisdom etc.
There were news channels apart from the main entertainment. Those channels give news and views about latest happening news. English news channels BBC, Fox News, CNN etc made their way to Indian televisions through satellites. Apart from these there other new Hindi channels like MTV and Star TV.
There were shows like” Friends” popular sitcoms and most of the youngsters used to watch and which was quite popular. But now there are reality shows like big boss where there are contestants who live in a house together and do daily house hold routines and they also have to perform tasks every day.
The sad part is now there are lots of shows aired via satellites which are full of masala culture and this has greatly influence the mind sets of the people. Also such shows helps in changing the dressing, language and lifestyle of people have also had great influence.
Satellite instruction television is another development that has bought changes in the lives of many people. There was a significant experiment that led to the progress of the mind sets of the people.
With the coming of SITE there has been an increase in possibilities to explore the world of satellite channels. It all began as an experimental set up of satellite communication earth station at Ahmedabad. ISRO or Indian space research organization set up its first commercial earth station at Arvi based on SITE.
Socio-Cultural and Economic Implications on Audience
Apart from the great influence the satellite TV’s in cultural of the country there was an Economic influence on the country. Economically our country has 65% of its population are predominantly rural. Indian viewers mainly viewed four types of programmes namely local, regional, national and international. Local programmes Nukkad, Buniyaad etc were mostly viewed by people, National
Programmes like Chandrakantha, Dekh bhai dekh were popular programmes viewed by most of the population of the country, international programmes like Sea hawks, Powder were also viewed by some of the niche audience. Another advantage of satellite television is women viewership.
When the serials like Buniyaad , Chandrakantha etc more and more women started to view these serials and also job opportunities for women increased during this period.
Satellite Television and Role of Women
Women played important role in media as journalists, reporters etc. With the advent of series like Wildermuth, Ohm, Devadas and Ravi the whole country witnessed the introduction of western culture and this affected the lifestyle, dressing etc of the Indian male dominated society.
Similar to the globalization version of the country, Liberalisation phase of television in India showed some prime time serials, dramas and films based on stereotyped women especially like homemakers and mere objects of male desire.
This also had a great impact on the society. During 2000’s there was a drastic change in portrayal of women characters they were showcased in a better light rather than stereotype characters. Especially with the advent of western serials and mostly in western countries women were and are portrayed liberated women who were equal lent to men in walks of life.
Television and media sector had a great transformation during liberalisation of the economy. The new economic policy encouraged privatization, there many private cable networks that came into existence during the time of privatization. Networks like CNN (Cable news network), Hong Kong based networks etc were popular ones during that time.
These companies are now part of Rupert Murdoch News Corporation. In 1991, foreign channels like Plus, Prime sports, channel V, BBC world and Movie. These channels became almost instant hits with urban elites. The use of satellite TV’s substantially increased in the year 1992 when 1.2 million homes has cable and TV’s and by 1996 the figure reached up to 14.2 million.
There were also shows based from Hong Kong, Middle East, Africa etc that were gaining attraction among the Indian audience and they also had great influence on Indian society and culture.
By the year 1998, nearly 70 cable and satellite channels were operating in India which included transitional players like Star, BBC, Discovery, MTV, Sony, CNN, Disney and other Indian companies as well. In the year 1996 these channels by localized by Indian companies.
There were also separate set of channels for youth like MTV, V Channel, Fashion TV etc. there were more choices and tastes and much enlarged exposure to the field for exposure. From 2008 there were programmes like Balika Vadhu, Na aana iss des mein laado etc which were viewed by the people of the country.
Even now there are Hollywood movies and television series, pop music etc that can be seen in Indian televisions. With India joining hands with multinational companies there are more TV networks in India than one can imagine.
Satellite TV influence on Youth
Satellite TV have had adverse influence on the youth a there infinite number of vulgar programmes that influence youths and teenagers who are in their growing stage and who have no one to talk to tend to get addicted such programmes. This trend has caused a ruckus in the society as because of the bad influence the youths tend to attack innocent victims.
Even though behavioural changes of youth depends on their mentality but such bad programmes are an added factor. The influence of such programmes and their added mentality is the root cause for major violent incidents in the incidents.
There is another factor for youths to choose the wrong way and that is the influence of western values and modes of life. Earlier there were only traditional programmes from which one could enrich themselves with knowledge and good values but nowadays there are more masala programs youths are affected the most because they spoil their life along with them they spoil the victims life. Most importantly they hurt their parents very badly and for life.
Apart from the behavioural destruction, the creativity of the youths is lost because of the bad influence. So to a certain extent the satellite televisions are a threat and cause destruction of rich cultural heritage. To put a stop to the den generation of youths both their mentality and programmes of satellite television needs to be modified.
And there needs to be special law for preventing the youths to spoil their lives and the victims. Because there are more and more increase in crimes and this has created a fear among the innocent people but nowadays people are getting strong for fighting back to attain justice.
For this to happen satellite television should promote programmes and alerts for people to be aware about such spoilt and never ending youth crimes. Because TV is one of the platforms where one can depend on getting precautionary alert about such crimes and can be self aware and can self defend them.
Based on a survey conducted 37% young people spend 2-3 hours for watching satellite TV channels and out of them 84% are university going students prefer foreign satellite TV channels only 12% prefer local channels.
Out of the above mentioned statistics most youngsters watch movies, sports, news, reality shows respectively. Many crime statistics 61% students confessed that they are instigated by certain bad movies aired by satellite televisions. Crimes like eve-teasing, drug addiction, abduction etc are mainly effects of bad influence of such bad satellite TV aired programmes and they have created problems in several families.
In order to avoid cultural invasion by foreign satellite TV channels, following measures can be taken:
- Firstly, there should be a government committee to enforce a media policy regarding which channels can be permitted to be viewed and which to be censored. This will help in developing programmes to expand our traditional values.
- Channels like Discovery channel, Animal Planet, National Geography, Al Jazeera, BBC,CNN telecast educational programs and children’s and youths should be encouraged to watch these channels.
- Ban all those channel that promote sleazy programmes that degrade and portray women in bad light. Media should convey the message about what is right and what is bad.
- Most importantly local channels should focus on good entertainment and also telecast interesting shows that are also politically inclined and also those shows that are knowledgeable.
Hence through satellite television both bad and good effects have taken place and have influenced the Indian bad mindsets of the people of the country.