Indian small screen programming started off in the early 1980s. There were initially two ignition points: the first in the eighties when colour TV was introduced by state-owned broadcaster Doordarshan (DD) timed with the 1982 Asian Games which India hosted. It then proceeded to install transmitters nationwide rapidly for terrestrial broadcasting. At that time there was only one national channel Doordarshan. The central government launched a series of economic and social reforms in 1991 under Prime Minister Narasimha Rao. Under the new policies the government allowed private and foreign broadcasters to engage in limited operations in India.
The second spark came in the early nineties with the broadcast of satellite TV by foreign programmers like CNN followed by Star TV and a little later by domestic channels such as Zee TV and Sun TV into Indian homes.
However the programmes on entertainment have driven the market. Programmes on agriculture are minimum in the satellite channels. The following is the programme schedule for agricultural programmes in Tamil Nadu.
