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Audience response to new television programming also provides some indications as to the
relationship between the viewers, the state and the community social and cultural institutions.
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Audience
reception is based upon their social and political setting, social position and pre-established understanding
of nationalist values. For instance, while Ramayan and Mahabharat had brought the whole country to a
halt during their initial transmissions, they remain popular among older retired viewers who select such
programs for religious reasons not as representations of the nation. Media organizations’ awareness of
this is illustrated by the airing of reruns of such programs during weekdays, usually in the mornings
taking into consideration favored timings for such audience.
Regional television audience provides the most indicatory answers illustrating the importance of
domestic values systems in programming strategies. Their exposure to national, regional, as well as
transnational provides them with different perspectives than those exposed to only national and
transnational channels. For instance, Telugu respondents in Hyderabad who watch news on regular basis
state that they prefer to watch regional news on regional television and national news on Doordarshan and
transnationals such as BBC news.
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Consequently, they are watching news from different angles and are
absorbing it accordingly. Such viewing habits contribute to constructing media programming strategies.
In order to gain access to Indian audiences, the external players as several larger national players seem to
produce for the more moderate national audience utilizing symbols that appear to be most acceptable in
the current social and political environment. While there is an inevitable exposure to external ideas
through some media and other sources because of liberalization, it is the domestic social and political
setting that appears to shape the strategies of the popular transnational media in the country. In this
environment, expressed values and media objectives also remain invariably linked to the domestic
environment. Therefore, the opening of domestic communicative space to external players are best
understood in the context of how the new productions may influence the balance between competing
domestic notions and objectives in a national setting.
Selected References
Barnett, Marguerite Ross (1976) The Politics of Cultural Nationalism in South India, Princeton,
Princeton University Press.
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The author conducted these interviews as part of her field research in India. The questions were based on
a pre-set audience questionnaire that provided a guide for the interviews. She interviewed audiences in
three different regions in the country – Andhra Pradesh, Kerala, and Punjab, three distinct language
communities. These interviews provide an impression of audience reactions to the new channels.
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BBC in India has historically established audience through radio. However, BBC audiences remain
limited because of its accessibility through cable and extra costs associated with the particular channel in
many regions.
Convention