Ahead of top general Entertainment channels, which are currently running in the country, the Public broadcaster Doordarshan on Saturday claimed that it has emerged as the most watched Hindi channel in terms of time spent per viewer ahead of top general entertainment channels (GECs). The “monumental development” comes in as Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) released the much awaited All India viewership data, which includes rural India, for the very first time.

DD National, the flagship channel of the network, registered an Average Time Spent of 51 Min per viewer, highest among Hindi GECs, in the week 41 as per BARC ratings.

This indicates that after tuning to the channel, viewers preferred to continuously watch it for a longer duration of time rather than frequently switching the channels, as compared to other GECs.

According to the data, the channel’s gross viewership in lakhs (GVL) rose from 479.9 lakhs in week 40 to a massive 4040.5 lakh in week 41.The channel also witnessed a significant rise in ratings and moved up to the 7th position in Hindi Speaking markets in the week 41. Of the total 153.5 million TV households, representing All India and all modes of signal, 77.5 million are urban TV households and 76 million are rural TV households.

Facts about Doordharshan:-

• On September 15, 1959, UNESCO (United Nations Educational Scientific and Cultural Organization), gave India 20,000 dollars and 180 Philips sets to start India’s largest broadcasting organisation, Doordarshan.
• It was in the year 1965, Doordarshan started broadcasting News.
• In the year 1975, Vikram Sarabhai, the father of the Indian space programme, suggested an Indian National Satellite (INSAT) plan to send TV signals all over India.
• In 1976, Indira Gandhi went on television to announce the separation on Doordarshan from AIR.
• Doordarshan has over 60 channels which includes DD1, DD2, DD Daman and Diu, DD Arunachal Pradesh, DD English, DD Goa etcIn 1965, Doordarshan began a five-minute news bulletin.
• DD India is available in 146 countries worldwideDD has its own free of charge D.T.H service called DD Direct Plus.
• In 2014, Doordarshan relaunched with new theme of pink and purple. The channel was also accompanied by a new punchline “Desh ka Apna Channel“.