New Delhi: Doordarshan recorded its highest television viewership during the lockdown in 2020 when it aired serials such as Ramayan and Mahabharat, Anurag Singh Thakur, Minister of State (MoS), Information and Broadcasting informed Rajya Sabha on Thursday.
According to statistics provided by the MoS in a written reply, Doordarshan recorded 747 million gross unique viewers in 2020. He was referring to the statistics of the Broadcast Audience Research Council data for the 22 subscribed Standard Definition (SD) DD channels out of 36.
"During the lockdown period in 2020, Doordarshan aired iconic serials such as Ramayan and Mahabharat which resulted in highest television viewership for Doordarshan," stated Thakur.
He also said that during the coverage of Republic Day celebrations Doordarshan's YouTube network garnered more views than the TV network. Describing it as a "sign of changing viewership pattern," the MoS stated that while the Doordarshan's YouTube network garnered 2.6 crore views and its television network garnered 2.3 crore views.
"It is evident that the Doordarshan’s viewership on YouTube platform alone was greater than its TV viewership is reported by BARC. This was further exponentially amplified to a total of more than 3.2 Billion Television Viewing Minutes by more than 180 channels across the country which aired these Doordarshan visuals from 9.30 am in the morning till noon," stated Thakur.
However, in the last three years, there has been a decline in commercial revenue earned by Doordarshan. According to the statistics provided by Thakur, Doordarshan earned Rs.623.84 crore in 2018-19 which came down to Rs.348.83 crore in 2019-20. It further reduced to Rs.272.61 crore in 2020-21.
