DD turned 60 in September 2019. It was its Diamond Jubilee. DD reached its acme in the 1980s and continued to attract audiences in the 1990s. Despite being a default choice as it was the only channel, it encouraged creativity, innovation and experimentation.

With the advent of satellite TV in the 1990s, talent shifted to it. Programming became a ballgame. Reality shows appeared one by one. All programmes were conceptually and texturally different. DD was not in a position to compete. It enjoyed a monopoly over news for decades as the public broadcaster. In the 2000s, it ceded space to other channels even in news transmission. Thus DD just became an instrument to air government’s viewpoint.

Even today DD has 67 studios, 1400 transmitters, 32000 employees, 7 national channels, eight state specific networks and seven regional state channels.

It has DD Free Dish as its DTH channel. No private broadcaster comes close to DD in terms of reach and infrastructure. DD could be made autonomous and can be left to compete with the private channels. It could become a world-class public broadcaster on the lines of BBC.