UNIT 6 TELEVISION: AN AUDIO-VISUAL

MEDIUM
Structure
6.0 Introduction
6.1 Learning Outcomes
6.2 Television as a Medium
6.2.1 Components of TV: Audio and Visual
6.2.2 TV - Is it an Idiot Box?
6.2.3 Is Television Part of Our Life?
6.2.4 Television Mass: Are They Zombified?
6.2.5 Who is Watching Whom?

6.3 Strengths and Limitations of Television

6.3.1 How do We Watch Television?
6.3.2 Strengths of Television
6.3.3 Limitations of Television

6.4 The Journey of Indian Television

6.4.1 Doordarshan: Birth of Indian Television
6.4.2 Television: Is it for Entertainment or Education?
6.4.3 Television to Educational Television (TV to EDTV)
6.4.4 Gyan Darshan: Educational Face of Indian Television

6.5 Television in the Era of New Media

6.6 Let Us Sum Up
6.7 Further Readings
6.8 Check Your Progress: Possible Answers

6.0 INTRODUCTION
Every living creature on Earth needs to communicate with its fellow creatures, and
sometimes even with creatures of other species. Even human beings are no
exception to this. Now the question arises: how can one communicate with their
fellow living being(s) cutting across barriers of geographical location, language,
culture, background etc? To fulfill such a need, the first requirement is to identify
a suitable medium. We all are familiar with the easily available media such as
newspaper, street play, radio, television, film, internet, mobile phone and so on
which are also referred to as the Traditional/Folk/Electronic/New media (even
though the usage of some of these media are slowly on the decline). Besides, not
all these media may be accessible to any particular individual as it is based on his/
her socio-economic background. So how do we select a medium? The golden
rule for that could be that we should select a medium whose characteristics and
strengths can be easily exploited for transmitting the messages, symbols etc. to the
target audience (or, we may call them the ‘receiver’). For example, researchers
like Barrow, Jr. & Westland claim, “a medium which utilises both visual and
auditory dimensions, such as television or sound motion pictures, is more
73
Television Journalism effective in transmitting information than one which utilises the auditory
dimension alone, such as radio.”
We may suggest that a particular medium is more appropriate for a given situation
if it is expected to produce better effect on the receiver. There is an old saying:
“Seeing is believing”, but someone may choose to differ and argue that whenever
we see a visual or an image or an event on television, we do not completely
believe and accept it as true because we all tend to perceive the message or event
differently. However, it would be difficult for us to completely ignore a visual vis-
à-vis its reliability and authenticity. Most frequently, we call television a visual
medium. And interestingly, we all tend to forget that television is an audio-visual
medium rather than only a visual medium. At this juncture, would it be appropriate
to call television as an audio-visual medium instead of calling it as only visual
medium. Although, we may all agree that TV is an audio-visual medium with
dominance of visual elements. It also further consolidates the age old argument:
“A picture speaks thousand words.”
In this Unit, an attempt has been made to make you understand ‘Television’ as
a medium and further to recognize its strengths so that you may use it to your
advantage in every sphere of life.

6.1 LEARNING OUTCOMES

After reading this Unit, you will be able to:
describe the strengths and weaknesses of television as a medium;
describe the journey of Indian television;
analyse the role and use of television in education; and
discuss the integration and convergence of television with new media.

6.2 TELEVISION AS A MEDIUM

What is television ? The literal meaning of television is ‘vision at a distance.’ It is
a composite word derived from the Greek tele- ‘at a distance’, and the Latin
word vision - ‘sight’. According to Alfred Dinsdale (2000), ‘television’ may be
briefly defined as “vision by telegraphy.”
It is believed that on 26 January 1926, the world’s first demonstration of true
television was given by John Logie Baird in front of 50 scientists in an attic room
in central London (BBC-History-John Logie Baird, n.d.). But at the same time,
we should not forget Marconi, an Italian inventor, who developed wireless
transmission, without which invention of television could not have been possible.
But the question arises as to why television was invented? As we all know that
the necessity is always the mother of every invention. It would be wise on our part
to understand the vision behind introducing television to the masses.
“When television is good, nothing —not the theater, not the magazines or
newspapers — nothing is better. But when television is bad, nothing is worse.
I invite each of you to sit down in front of your own television set when your
station goes on the air and stay there, for a day, without a book, without
a magazine, without a newspaper, without a profit and loss sheet or a rating
74 book to distract you. Keep your eyes glued to that set until the station signs
off. I can assure you that what you will observe is a vast wasteland.”- Television: An Audio-Visual
Newton N. Minow, Chairman, Federal Communications Commission (FCC), who Medium
referred to American commercial television programming as a “vast wasteland”
and advocated for ‘programming in the public interest’, in his speech, “Television
and the Public Interest”, popularly known as ‘Wasteland Speech’ (American
Rhetoric: Newton Minow — Address to the National Association of Broadcasters
(Television and the Public Interest, n.d.).
It was a landmark speech for the medium of ‘Television’, delivered during the
convention of the National Association of Broadcasters held on May 9, 1961, at
a time when there were only three TV networks in the United States and when
the domination of television was much less than it is today. With the mushrooming
of television channels in the present time, this ‘wasteland’ must have spread its
area to a greater extent. Interestingly, even after five decades this speech has its
own relevance and further it sets the agenda for all of us to discuss a major issue:
does television function in the public interest?
The basic objective of television broadcast in India was to ‘educate’ the masses
through ‘entertainment’. But ironically, in due course of time, the ‘education’
aspect has taken a back seat and the ‘entertainment’ has completely overshadowed
the basic motto of television in India driven by the prime objective of revenue
generation.

6.2.1 Components of TV: Audio and Visual

As we discussed in the introduction, television is an audio-visual medium with
dominance of visuals. This means it has two components – audio and visual. As
far as audio is concerned, it supports and compliments the visuals. Many a times
the audio plays very crucial role in television programmes. It helps in explaining
the message, setting the mood of the scene and expressing the emotions of the
characters. It is really very difficult to produce an effective television programme
without the audio component. Different types of audio elements are used in
television programmes, for example – voice-over, characters’ voice, background
music, ambience and various sound effects. Now we shall discuss the most
important component of television, i.e., visuals. Visuals are the core component
of television used to convey the message through this medium. The term visual
encompasses various elements, like – recorded video, photographs, animations
and graphics.

6.2.2 TV - Is It an Idiot Box?

Among thousands of technological inventions made so far, ‘television’is still believed
to be one of the greatest inventions of mankind. It gained popularity among
millions of people from the day one when it was launched in the market. Interestingly,
TV was considered a medium for the rich and elite in those times and may be
so even today. The size of the TV screen and its thickness define how wealthy
its owner is. Despite the threats posed by later day inventions and the revolution
unleashed by technologies such as the new media forms like Internet, the TV has
not lost its popularity. Actually, it has become an inseparable part of our household
items and it would not be an exaggeration to tell that TV has begun to be treated
more like a family member. No one would deny that if our TV goes off air for
a while, we all become restless.

75
Television Journalism But as every coin has two sides, TV too has its other side. Despite all the good
aspects of a TV, however, it is considered a passive medium. The TV was
considered as not promoting the thinking process among the viewers and so it has
never really earned a good reputation. And probably that is why, it was popularly
known as an ‘Idiot Box’, something which makes you dumb. As one television
viewer writes in his blog: “If you consider TV as your friend then it is betraying
you, if you think TV as your brother then it will destroy your originality and
your culture, if you think TV as your son then it is just going to make you
sick” (TV is not an Idiot Box, 2013).
We may not realize it nor accept it easily but it is true that a majority of us spend
a significant part of lives in front of a TV. It has been rightly said, “if you read
too much books you are called a good reader but if you watch too much TV
you are not called good viewer”. So, it would be wise on our part to act
smarter and not to get fooled by the TV- the IDIOT BOX. TV should not in
anyway control you. While the TV may not be an Idiot Box, but it can make you
an idiot if you do not use it smartly.

6.2.3 Is Television Part of Our Life?

After a long day at work and the resulting stress, you have to confess that most
of you just switch on your television sets to relax and end up watching never-
ending episodes of a particular serial or other programmes of your interest. Jane
Root (1986), the first woman channel controller of the BBC (British Broadcasting
Corporation) describes, “television is very effective towards insulating
ourselves from other people and their demands. Interestingly, ‘it is time for
bed’ can be easily ignored with the help of a television set”.

6.2.4 Television Mass: Are They Zombified?

You might have come across children taking their food in front of television at
home like robots. At times, children freeze for minutes (not seconds) and keep
staring at the TV set and it requires some adult members of the family to tell them
that they have already finished their meal. This happens not only with children but
also some adults who eat food while watching TV. One would be tempted to
quote Jane Root (1986) in her book “Open the Box: About Television” who
describes the classic images of the television viewer in a very creative way, “The
family is sitting in front of the TV, staring blankly at a fuzzy, low-quality
image. Their eyes are glazed, their limbs hanging laxly from unhealthy bodies.
Junk food is pushed mechanically into slackly open mouths. There is no
conversation: just the occasional grunt as programme becomes advertisement
and then becomes programme again.” Such image of TV viewer has been
projected in countless films, novels and comics.

6.2.5 Who is Watching Whom?

It would be very funny if someone asks you that whether you are watching the
TV or the TV is watching you? Apparently, the hidden question is: Are you
paying proper attention to the TV? While it may be true that we all do not sit
like a zombie in front of TV, it would be interesting to know about Peter
Collett’s experiments ‘watching people watching television’ as mentioned in the
book, Open The Box: About Television by Jane Root. Peter Collett, a psychologist
at Oxford University, conducted an experiment by placing a cabinet containing an
76 ordinary television, a video camera, a microphone and a timing device in the living
rooms of 20 different families for a week. The video recordings revealed that Television: An Audio-Visual
people were doing a whole range of things in front of the TV set. They were Medium
engaged in a variety of activities in front of the TV set - eating dinner, arguing with
each other, listening to music, reading books, writing letters and vacuum-cleaning
the carpet. According to Collett, “People spend hours on doing all kinds of things
that have absolutely nothing to do with TV viewing while the set is on”. If this is
so, then TV becomes a Radio and it further undermines the role of TV as a visual
medium.
Check Your Progress 1
Note: Use the space provided below for your answers.
Compare your answers with those given at the end of this Unit.
1. What is television ? Define according to your understanding.
...........................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................
2. Do you agree that television has become part of our life? Give reasons
for your answer.
...........................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................
3. What was Peter Collett’s experiment ‘watching people watching
television’?
...........................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................

6.3 STRENGTHS AND LIMITATIONS OF

TELEVISION
In the earlier sections, we have discussed the different aspects of television as a
medium. We shall now discuss about the strengths as well as the limitations of this
medium.

6.3.1 How do We Watch Television ?

You may recall some incidents from your own experience when you might have
been disturbed by the sound of your door bell while watching a ‘Live’ telecast
of a 20-20 cricket final match. You may also perhaps recall a time when your
daughter/sister requested you to solve a mathematical problem while you were
seriously watching news. It is a fact that most of us struggle to concentrate to
watch TV programmes of our choice as we get distracted and drawn away by
numerous family activities and hence, most of us tend to adopt different strategies
to watch television. Also it is quite common for viewers to exhibit an inconsistent
pattern of TV watching. At times they may concentrate intensely on the TV 77
Television Journalism programme while at another moment they may be treating the television sounds
as a kind of background music. It is believed that as a form of electronic
communication, television can be part of the fittings of a room. The ‘experience
of television’ is very different from film. Unlike film, we buy everything coming on
television once we pay for our subscription fee.
Raymond Williams, the academic who seriously analyzed on how we watch
television gave another approach to television viewing as a ‘whole experience’.
Williams (n.d.) says that it is significant we often say ‘we have been “watching
television” rather than that we have watched “the news” or “a play” or “the
football”.’ Further he says, “An evening spent with the television is like having
read two plays, three newspapers, three or four magazines on the same day that
one has been to a variety show and a lecture and a football match.” In fact, it
is felt that despite the items being different, the television experience has come in
a unified manner.
While watching television one may rightfully believe that ‘Audience is the King’
as these days the audience sit in front of the TV with a remote in hand. In this
‘viewer controlled’ TV era findings show that viewers frequently surf back and
forth between channels, avoiding disliked parts of programmes or the commercials.
Therefore, it is obvious that unless television channels offer the experience you are
looking for; you may turn it off, or move over, or shift your focus on something
else while leaving the TV set on.

6.3.2 Strengths of Television

Every medium has its own strengths and weaknesses. Yet, it all depends on how
the medium is used. The strengths of television should be understood with reference
to its advantages over other medium. But the most important point is that the
strengths of television need to be exploited by you as it cannot automatically add
values to your effort.
However, we may highlight the following strengths of television as a medium:
Television has advantages of both audio and visual components. The
combination of both audio and visuals make it a powerful medium.
TV has reach to a large section of the population.
Television is still the cheapest medium of entertainment and infotainment.
This medium has an immediacy factor. It can deliver the message to the
masses immediately, a strength which makes this medium suitable for news
and sports.
Literacy is not required to use this medium hence it can be accessed and
used by the masses.
Television as a medium has been flexible changing itself with time. Earlier TV
was a linear and appointment medium, but now all the DTH (Direct to home)
platforms are providing pausing and recording facilities. Viewers can pause
the programmes and resume watching after sometime or they can record
programmes and watch them at the suitable time.
In the era of new media, television has converged with online media so now
‘live’ TV is available on smartphones also.
78
6.3.3 Limitations of Television Television: An Audio-Visual
Medium
Every medium has some limitations including television. Few limitations of television
as a medium are the following:
It is primarily a one-way communication medium.
It requires electricity for access.
Most of the television services are still linear which makes this medium an
appointment medium. It means if you want to watch certain programme, you
will have to switch your TV set on at a certain specific time. However, many
DTH services are offering recording facilities too.
Both production and transmission of programmes are comparatively costly.
It is not portable. However, television programmes can be viewed on
smartphones with the help of internet.
Presenting in-depth information is little difficult through this medium. That is
probably why after the television revolution, newspapers started focusing on
detailed news reports and in-depth features.
It is only visible within the allotted range/power of the transmitter or around
the footprints of the satellite carrying the television signal.
Check Your Progress 2
Note: Use the space provided below for your answers.
Compare your answers with those given at the end of this Unit.
1. List five strengths of television as a medium.
...........................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................
2. List five limitations of television as a medium .
...........................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................

6.4 THE JOURNEY OF INDIAN TELEVISION

There was a time when Indian viewers had no option but to watch the state
owned Doordarshan programmes which most media analysts consider to be dull,
non-commercial in nature and oriented primarily towards education and socio-
economic development. Entertainment programmes were only a handful and you
could count them on your finger tips. But then a big change came in the history
of Indian Television when the serials like Hum Log (1984), and mythological
dramas like Ramayan (1987-88) and Mahabharat (1988-89) were televised and
millions of viewers stayed glued to their TV sets. The scenario changed further
with the upgradation from Black & White to colour TV and delivery of TV
programmes via cable network began in smaller towns along with the metros. This
led to a sudden increase in the purchase of TV sets. 79
Television Journalism 6.4.1 Doordarshan: Birth of Indian Television
Doordarshan (DD), the national television network of India began its first
experimental broadcast on September 15, 1959 from its first station in New
Delhi. By 1965, this experiment became a full fledged service when DD started
telecasting signals to reach TV sets within houses in and around New Delhi. By
1972, the DD services were extended to Bombay (Mumbai) and Amritsar and
then on, to seven other cities by 1975. Till 1982, the transmission was mainly in
Black & White.
The first turning point in the history of Indian Television was when Doordarshan
introduced colour TV during the Asian Games held in New Delhi in 1982 and
simultaneously started installing transmitters nationwide for terrestrial broadcasting.
It is significant to note that during that period, no private enterprise was allowed
to set up TV stations or to transmit TV signals.
The second turning point came in the early nineties when foreign channels like
CNN, Star TV and domestic channels such as Zee TV and Sun TV started
broadcast of satellite signals. That is how people of India got the opportunity to
watch regional, national and international programmes simultaneously.

6.4.2 Television: Is it for Entertainment or Education?

Sarcastically, Groucho Marx, an American comedian and film and television star
has said (Groucho Marx Quotes - The Quotations Page, n.d.) “I find television
very educating. Every time somebody turns on the set, I go into the other
room and read a book”. Should we blame TV for that? Should it be used only
for education or only for entertainment or for both? Like you go to your class
room in the morning for attending class or counseling sessions, in the break you
go to canteen for refreshment or lunch and then come back to your respective
class or working place and finally you go back home and retire for the day, in
the same way with a remote in hand you go on to surf different channels of TV,
select the channel based on your need. You may first go to some news channels
for news or headlines then you may switch over to Discovery or National
Geographic for enriching/educating yourself with new kind of knowledge which
you may not find in any book or in your text book, in particular. After some time,
you may like to see a movie or a Reality Show just to entertain yourself. One may
convince you easily by this logic that it is you (or you may say your ‘need’) which
decides whether TV should be used for entertainment or education or both.

6.4.3 Television (TV) to Educational Television (EDTV)

Television always had a great potential to become a medium of instruction and this
potential had been explored and utilized in the field of education, especially in
distance education. We may list various functions of television in delivering education
through distance mode, like supporting and enhancing teaching, instructing,
explaining, clarifying, motivating and encouraging, and presenting unreachable facts
and events (Hizal, 1983). In 1993, a ten-day long first IGNOU (Indira Gandhi
National Open University)-ISRO (Indian Space Research Organisation)
teleconferencing experiment was done covering 525 participants. This experiment
demonstrated the possibility of using one-way television with two-way audio
wherein all students could view and interact with the teacher, and simultaneously
the teacher could listen to all participating students through phone at remote sites.
80 It became a major landmark in the extensive and continuous use of teleconferencing
for distance education. The success of the experiment prompted the university to Television: An Audio-Visual
include teleconferencing as a regular component of the IGNOU student support Medium
system (Khan & Panda, n.d.).
The Open University (UK) which is considered as the pioneer in the field of
distance education, had already demonstrated the instructional power of television.
Parallel to UKOU, IGNOU was established by a Special Act of Parliament,
IGNOU Act, 1985 to impart education through the mode of Open and Distance
Learning (ODL) and adopted a multiple media approach for transacting the
course materials through Print, Audio (Radio) and Video (TV).

6.4.4 Gyan Darshan: Educational Face of Indian Television

Being a developing country, from the very beginning of the TV network in India,
Television was perceived as an efficient tool for imparting education to primary,
secondary and university level students. Hence, educational broadcasting in India
is more than 40 years old and UNESCO has played an important role in promoting
use of electronic media for education. “Educational broadcasting has suffered
from a built-in contradiction: whether it should be used to enhance classroom
education or be used to enrich the knowledge of the learners.”, a point raised by
Binod C. Agrawal, a noted educationist, in 2005.
With the introduction of open and distance education, the educational broadcasting
gained a greater momentum. The potential of electronic media, particularly television,
was recognized because of the distance neutrality and simultaneous reach in
covering large areas. The National Policy on Education (1986) gave due emphasis
to educational broadcasting in India. At this juncture, we may highlight some
major educational television projects undertaken in India for three decades (1960-
1990). These projects are Secondary School Television Project (1961) (Agrawal,
2005), Delhi Agriculture Television (DATV) Project (Krishi Darshan) (1966),
Satellite Instructional Television Experiment (SITE) (1975) (SITE, 1981), Indian
National Satellite Project (INSAT) (1982) and UGC-Higher Education Television
Project (1984).
Gyan Darshan
A 24-hour educational television channel, known as Gyan Darshan (GD) was
launched on January 26, 2000 in India at IGNOU (Agrawal, 2005). It was
considered to be a major milestone in the field of educational broadcasting in
India as a joint venture of the Ministry of Human Resources Development and
Information and Broadcasting, Prasar Bharati and IGNOU. Gyan Darshan, a fully
digital exclusive Educational TV Channel, was a digital bouquet of 4 channels-
GD-1 (Prime Channel), GD-2 (Interactive Distance Education Channel), GD-3
(Ekalavya-Technology Education Channel) and GD-4 (Vyas-Higher Education
Channel). Nevertheless, due to some financial, administrative and technical reasons,
this bouquet of Gyan Darshan channels was off-air on June 4, 2014 and it was
back on-air on October 4, 2017, after a gap of more than three years.

Activity 1
Make a list of TV programmes you have watched during the last week.
Classify these programmes into different categories, like – news, education,
sports, infotainment, entertainment, etc. Analyse this classification to understand
the role of television in your life.
81
Television Journalism
Check Your Progress 3
Note: Use the space provided below for your answers.
Compare your answers with those given at the end of this Unit.
1. Write a short note on Doordarshan.
...........................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................
2. In your opinion, is television being used for education or entertainment?
Give reasons for your answer.
...........................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................
3. What is Gyan Darshan ?
...........................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................
...........................................................................................................

6.5 TELEVISION IN THE ERA OF NEW MEDIA

We all know that internet has touched and impacted each and every field of our
life. Television is also not an exception. Due to its impact on television we can see
the modified form of TV and its content now. Earlier television was the most
popular platform for consumption of audio-visual content but now online platforms
are giving a very tough competition to it. OTT (Over the top) platforms are
emerging as popular internet based platforms for audio-visual content specially in
urban areas. Faster and cheaper internet services and flexibility to access any
OTT platform of the world are helping these internet based platforms to attract
more and more viewers. A section of urban population is shifting from traditional
television to OTT and the size of this section is increasing continuously. However,
television is still the cheapest and most popular medium of entertainment.
Television and online media are not just competing with each other. The two are
also mixing with each other. Convergence of all media is a fact of the Internet age.
Television is now available on computers, laptops, tabs and mobile phones with
the help of internet. Apps of television channels are available for download on
smartphones. A large number of people are now watching their TV programs on
computers, tabs or mobile phones. On the other hand, general television sets are
now turning into smart TVs. Internet can also be used on Smart TVs in addition
to general television programs. It is a mixture of TV and computer.

6.6 LET US SUM UP

Television is an audio-visual medium with a strong potential to influence the viewers.
82 This medium uses visuals as the core element of its content and gets the benefits
of audio to support and enhance the quality of its programmes. This medium is Television: An Audio-Visual
being used for various purposes, like - entertainment, news, sports, infotainment, Medium
education, etc. In the present era of internet, television is also changing. Now
television channels are available on computers, tabs and smartphones with the
help of internet. Traditional television sets are converting into smart TV. OTT
platforms are challenging the dominance of television as the most popular source
of audio-visual entertainment content. Television has been continuously changing
with the changing technologies.

6.7 FURTHER READINGS

Conrad, P. (2016). Television: The medium and its manners. Routledge.
Gray, J., & Lotz, A. D. (2019). Television studies. John Wiley & Sons.

6.8 CHECK YOUR PROGRESS: POSSIBLE

ANSWERS
Check Your Progress 1
1. Try to define television as per your understanding.
2. Write your point of view on the matter.
3. Peter Collett, a psychologist at Oxford University, did an experiment placing
a cabinet containing an ordinary television, a video camera, a microphone
and a timing device in the living rooms of 20 different families for a week.
The video recordings showed that people were doing all kind of house hold
things in front of the TV set.
Check Your Progress 2
1. Five strengths of television are following:
i. Television has advantages of both audio and visual components. The
combination of both audio and visual make it a powerful medium.
ii. TV has reach to a large section of population.
iii. Television is still the cheapest medium of entertainment and infotainment.
iv. This medium has the immediacy factor. It can deliver the message to the
masses immediately. This strength makes this medium suitable for news
and sports.
v. Literacy is not required to use this medium.
2. Five limitations of television are following:
i. It is primarily a one-way communication medium.
ii. It requires electricity for access.
iii. Both production and transmission of programmes are comparatively
costly.
iv. Presenting in-depth information is little difficult for this medium. That is
why after the television revolution, newspapers started focusing on 83
detailed news reports and in-depth features.
Television Journalism v. It is only visible within the allotted range/power of the transmitter or
around the footprints of the satellite carrying the television signal.
Check Your Progress 3
1. Try to add some more information on Doordarshan not covered in this Unit.
2. Present your point of view on the use of television for entertainment or
education or both.
3. Gyan Darshan is an educational television channel.

84