*Professor, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Sirsa, Haryana, India. Email id: nachizbajwa@gmail.com
**Research Scholar, Department of Journalism and Mass Communication, Chaudhary Devi Lal University, Sirsa, Haryana, India. Email id: s4surenderpalsingh@gmail.com
Online published on 6 September, 2022.
India audience witnessed the first ever TV serial on Doordarshan in early 80s. Since then the progress of TV industry has been phenomenal. From the telecast of ‘Hum Log’ in 1983–84 till date there have been numerous types of serials telecasted on Indian television. Today India boasts of one of the world's largest markets. As per the data available with BARC, more than 66% households had TV sets in 2018. There was only one TV channel in India. After the arrival of satellite TV channels in 1992, there has been mushrooming of private TV channels in India. As of February 2021 there are 900 private satellite TV channels in India. Most of these are 24x7 TV channels. It means entertainment is available to Indian audience as and when they desire. Demassification in mid 90s brought about the inception of specialized TV channels for specialized audience. It opened the flood gates for the opening of a plethora of satellite TV channels. India for the first time witnessed the arrival of 24x7 TV channels in regional languages. With 24x7 TV culture there arose the need for a huge variety of TV programs. It was here that Indian television started looking towards the West for the genres, presentation and contents of TV programs. Reality shows are among the most popular TV shows in India. This paper analyses top reality shows on Indian Television.
Audience, TV Industry, BARC, Demassification, Reality Shows
