ABSTRACT

This book examines the evolution and journey of regional language television channels in India. The first of its kind, it looks at the coverage, uniqueness, ownership, and audiences of regional channels in 14 different languages across India, covering Hindi, Bengali, Marathi, Telugu, Tamil, Urdu, Assamese, Bhojpuri, Gujarati, Kannada, Kashmiri, Odia, Punjabi, and Malayalam. It brings together researchers, scholars, media professionals, and communication teachers to document and reflect on language as the site of culture, politics, market, and social representation.

The volume discusses multiple media histories and their interlinkages from a subcontinental perspective by exploring the trajectories of regional language television through geographical boundaries, state, language, identities, and culture. It offers comparative analyses across regional language television channels and presents interpretive insights on television culture and commerce, contemporary challenges, mass media technology, and future relevance.

Rich in empirical data, this book will be an essential read for scholars and researchers of media studies, television studies, communication studies, sociology, political studies, language studies, regional studies, and South Asian studies. It will also be useful to professionals and industry bodies in television media and is broadcasting, journalists, and television channels.

chapter |31 pages

Introduction

Regional language television channels: an Indian story

part I|73 pages

Scheduled languages

chapter 1|15 pages

Regional Hindi channels

Origin, development, and challenges

chapter 5|13 pages

Tamil television

Rethinking form and content

chapter 6|8 pages

Urdu television

Connecting communities and audiences

part II|112 pages

Other languages

chapter 7|18 pages

Mediating identity in the time of infotainment

24x7 television in Assam

chapter 8|11 pages

A rising star in the regional segment

Bhojpuri television

chapter 9|12 pages

The tale of Gujarati television

Analysis of market forces shaping content

chapter 11|9 pages

Broken language, fractured identities

Role and relevance of Kashmiri language broadcasts

chapter 13|22 pages

Punjabi television in the global world

Capturing the native and the diaspora

chapter 14|12 pages

TV in Kerala

Vision, visibility, viability

part III|65 pages

Perspectives

chapter 15|17 pages

Doordarshan Kolkata

A cultural history

chapter 18|9 pages

Regional contours

The many modernities of Indian language television

chapter |16 pages

The market idea in a multilingual TV milieu

A postscript