Dr. Banarsi Lal and Dr. Vikas Tandon
The present age has been rightly termed as an ‘information age’. Information plays an immense value in our society. Information has become an integral part of our daily life. Now people want adequate and authentic information as early as possible. The mass media namely newspaper, radio and television are catering to this important need of people. For the rapid and overall development of a country it is must that the citizens of that country are well versed with happenings around them. Communication is a vital part of personal life in the society. It is equally important in business, education, civilization, administration and other situations where people encounter with each other to satisfy their needs and wishes.
Communication is the vital aspect to change the behaviour of the receiver. As a matter of fact, no executive can be successful without communicating effectively with his superiors or subordinates. Messages could be in the form of words, symbols, signs, letters or actions. The importance of communication has been greatly emphasized by all the management experts. Communication is like a part of an individual’s life as well as organizational existence. Its importance is self-explanatory and is having common experience of all as well.
Use of television as a powerful communication medium has no doubt to captivate the people to harness its potential for reaching far across the nation. While it provides words with pictures and sound effect like movies, T.V. has the capacity to reach the largest number of people in the shortest possible time. People learn through the eyes and ears both thus, gain greater knowledge and understanding of the subject.
T.V. as a mass medium is developing very rapidly. With the development and acceptance of colour in television one can expect a greater reality in this medium for future. The boom in television industries has not only affected urban masses but the rural masses are also fascinated with this media. Now this has become one of the most important media of mass communication for rural masses. It has played a major role in transferring latest technological know-how to the rural people. In India where the rural masses are isolated in villages the communication is difficult and challenging. In this situation television is one of the important sources of mass media which plays a pivotal role in reaching large number of people in no time.
Television can bring the world to our door steps within a second. This mass medium has made dissemination of news, information and entertainment possible on a scale unprecedented in human society. It is undoubtedly one of the most versatile audio-visual aids ever developed.
Growth of television in India
The television in India began modestly on September 15, 1959 by a UNESCO grant to study the use of T.V. as a medium of education, rural uplift and community development. In 1959 an experimental television programme was started to train personnel and particularly to discover what television would achieve in community development and formal education. Philips (India) demonstrated its use at an exhibition in New Delhi. The range of the transmitter was 40 kilometers and the audience comprised members of 180 tele-clubs which were provided free sets by UNESCO. The year 1961 witnessed educational television programmes on science for teachers. In the year 1965 entertainment programmes were introduced under pressure from manufacturers and the public. The year 1975-76 beamed educational programmes to villages through SITE. Commercial telecast for the first time was introduced in 1976. In 1977 terrestrial transmitters were put up at selected centers to extend television coverage. On August, 15, 1982, the national programme was inaugurated. In 1983 INSAT-IA India’s first communication satellite was placed in geostationary orbit but failed in its operation. In 1983 INSAT-IB was successfully launched in orbit by the American Shuttle Challenger.
The transfer of science to people in India and gradual inoculation of scientific attitude in their everyday life, need to demonstrate in the language which will be understood and appreciated by the people. Television as an audio-visual medium of communication offers immense potential for disseminating the technological information to remote corners of the country through the nationwide T.V. network.
Television is also considered a very strong medium for creating the awareness among the people. Apart from that, it speeds up entire process of adoption. It is considered as a credible source of information and is taken as authentic, trustworthy and prestigious medium of communication. As a mass medium television is developing very rapidly. Television is one of most sophisticated means of mass communication media. It is an ideal medium to convey the information to illiterate and literate in urban and rural areas on whom it would have profound impact. As an instrumental device, it is being used in variety of ways such as for direct teaching, for supplementing formal education, for developing psychomotor skills, for adult education and for diffusion of agricultural know-how etc.It is expected that the rural oriented television programmes can solve the problems of inaccessibility, literacy and shortage of skilled persons in India.
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