Television in Vizhutua

Vizhutua was the first country in Nesiondalsa to begin television broadcasts. Television broadcasts in Vizhutua commenced on March 19, 1950, with the launch of the country's first television channel Vijhudu Durdashanam (using NTSC). Television had begun experimentially as early as 1937 in major cities such as Visaha and Tambal, but they were interrupted after the Mahbartha Empire declared war on Vizhutua in 1942, with experimential broadcasts continuing in 1947 after research on television continued after the end of World War II. The Vizhutuan government held a monopoly on television until the niruvanom Public Broadcasting Enterprises was granted a television license in 1956, with the government-funded public access TV station Vijara Durdashanam starting transmissions on April 15, 1957. Color broadcasts began on Vizhutu Durdashanam in 1967, with full-time color broadcasts commencing in 1971. Because the idea of a private television station was frowned upon due to its association with capitalism, the only television channels were the government-owned Vizhutu Durdashanam, the non-profit cultural and educational channel Vika Durdashanam, the non-commercial channel WAO Vijhutu, and hundreds of public access television stations. Tritiyashanam, the first private television channel in Vizhutua, began transmissions on November 7, 1981. Several private television networks established were established after commercial television was legalized, including Sarvajangankuttam Broadcasting System in 1982, Awritti 55 in 1983, Chandraravi TV in 1985, and Dashin Sitara TV in 1987.

Experimental years
Experimental television broadcasts began in January 1937, perhaps motivated by the launch of the. The first experimental television was 1CT in Visaha, followed by 3YL in Nakaram Tambal, 2LU in Nakaram Lenying, 1HR in Guerut, and 5UV in Medregulup. However, all television broadcasts were interrupted on January 25, 1942, after the Mahbartha Empire along with the Mahbarthan cilent states of Dajankagru, Zahama, and Ucia declared war on Vizhutua. By the end of World War II, the telecommunications systems and facilities in Vizhutua had suffered from major damage by Cadasan, Mahbarthan, and Dajankagrash bombing. However, the newly-elected Prime Minister Cairo Raijar had begun to encourage research on television as part of Vizhutua's post-war economic boom, and the first public television experiments were held in 1947 after development of a 1050-line, 25 frames/second television system had been completed by the end of 1946, and to celebrate the 10th anniversary of the beginning of experimential television broadcasts. In 1948, the Vizhutuan government established experimential television station AM1EV, broadcasting on VHF channel 1.

Public television
On March 19, 1950, television was formally introduced to the Vizhutuan public with the launch of Vizhutua's first television station, Vijhudu Durdashanam, broadcasted from Visaha. Although Cairo Raijar modeled Vizhutua's economy after the US post-war economic boom, Raijar was a critic of capitalism and he was not pleased with the American commercial broadcasting model, so the government had a monopoly on television. By the end of 1951, there were television stations in all 178 provinces, and 89% of Vizhutuan households had a television set. Vizhutua also began encouraging the spread of television to the rest of Nesiondalsa once every province had a television station. Television first spread to Upper Vizhutu in 1954, then Baratlamuri and Tekeleb, Maryadaah, and Morasavia in 1955, Zahama and the Borundian Federation in 1956, Futanchiu and Ucia in 1958, Vuinriautra, Usheigep, and Dajankagru in 1959, Adrian Islands, Ingupufun, Eruchimpep, and Ndaichuju in 1960, Obanacia, Luwesrudlri, Guenung, Buzravusra, and Nchajayuzh in 1961, Faibatkintra, Hangala, and Kanuzunda Islands in 1962, and Toalugi and Sittapini in 1963.

Eventually, Cairo Raijar started to develop feelings that having the government exercise a monopoly television was a complete mistake, especially because Britain had allowed companies to own television stations. So the Ministry of Telecommunications began granting television licenses to niruvanoms (enterprises) in 1956. The only niruvanoms permitted to gain broadcast licenses were non-profit organizations. By the end of 1956, television licenses had been granted for niruvanoms dedicated to broadcasting, with the first public access TV stations being established in Visaha, Nakaram Tambal, Guerut, Medregulup, Nakaram Lenying, Oching, Gabili, and Rakura. Subsequently, the government granted the non-profit Vijhutu Cultural Broadcasting Service a television license in 1958, with the Vika Durdashanam television network being established on January 3, 1959.

Raijar also felt that television, which was mainly broadcast in Vizhutuan, was unequal to the other official languages like Tambalan or Lenyingan. On June 1, 1958, the first Tambalan-language television channel, Vijhutu Durdashanam Tambal, came on the air for the first time.

On February 29, 1960, the government issued a decree that formed two foundations dedicated to funding in order to better support the public access and cultural broadcasters: the Public Broadcasting Foundation and the Cultural Broadcasting Foundation. Test color telecasts began on Vizhutu Durdashanyam Vijara during the 1962 Nesiondalsan Summer Games, using the newly-developed MDNA system that was meant to be a standard in Nesiondalsa. The transition to color would gradually spread towards regional stations, beginning in July 1965. It started in the major cities and spread out to rural areas. The Vizhutuan government had highly promoted the spread of color television with the MIDUNIA system, because it had the highest resolution out of all broadcast TV standards, with the resolution being double the resolution of NTSC (525 lines) and 68% higher than PAL and SECAM (both 625 lines). The last television stations in Vizhutua ceased broadcasting in black-and-white in 1968 after a gradual transition to color.

In 1968, the Obanacian non-profit organization We Are One, which had just begun radio broadcasts in Vizhutua, applied for a television license. Its license was approved in 1969, and its owned-and operated television network WAO Vijhutu was the first foreign-owned television station to broadcast in Vizhutua. On July 16, 1976, the Vizhutuan Aerospace Exploration and Research Organization (VAERO) launched Mahapankti Dura-1, Vizhutua's first communication satellite. It was used to relay television signals of Vizhutu Duradashanam, many public access television channels, and Vizhutu Cultural Broadcasting Service, carrying direct-to-home television. However, the high cost of a satellite dish and the large size of the dish made satellite television have a niche role in the Vizhutuan broadcasting industry, so in 1977, the Vizhutuan government began providing satellite dishes to Vizhutuan homes.

Private television and onward
In 1980, the Ministry of Telecommunications began granting private television licenses as part of deregulation in the telecommunications sector and the Eighth Five Year Plan. The first private television to begin broadcasts was Tritiyashanam, which was owned by Nivya Sharathi Prasaran, launched on July 20, 1980. Unlike Vika Duradashanam and the public access stations that were part of the Public Broadcasting System TV network, Tritiyashanam was funded by advertising and not through funding from the Vizhutuan federal government.

Subsequently, television licenses were issued to niruvanoms Nivya Sarvajangankuram Prasaran (Sarvajangankuttam Broadcasting System), Nivya Vavishnavi Vonoli Tolaigachi (Vavi TV), Nivya Shirpathi Aratan (Shiratan Television), Nivya Sanyukti Duradashanam (Sanyukti Television), and Nivya Yami Oliparabu (Yami Television), with the Sarvajangankuttam Broadcasting System beginning broadcasts in 1981, Vavi TV and Sanyukti TV beginning broadcasts in 1982, and Yami Television beginning broadcasts in 1983. Nivya Sharathi Prasaran also launched a news channel by the name of Awritti 55 in 1983.

The spike in the viewership of private television caused significant consequences for the public access and television stations, as more and more viewers looked to the private television stations for general entertainment. The fact that the government had to make subsidizes to three television networks (the government-owned Vizhutu Duradash, and the government-funded networks Public Broadcasting System and Vizhutu Cultural Broadcasting Service) proved to be costly and inefficient, so the Vizhutu Cultural Broadcasting Service was privatized in 1984. Dashin Sitara TV was launched in 1987 to compete with VCBS. It was predicted to be as popular as the Vizhutu Cultural Broadcasting Service, but it struggled to attract viewers. Eventually, Dashin Sitara TV merged with VCBS to from Duradasitara.

Vizhutua became one of the earliest countries to experiment with digital television, with digital television systems being experimented since 1987. Full-time digital television transmissions began in 1994 in large cities like Visaha, Tambal, or Medregulup. These transmissions covered the entire country around 1996-97 and it wasn't until 2007 until the digital switchover offically commenced, starting with satellite services, cable television, and Visaha Metropolitan Area. All analog transmissions ceased by October 7, 2007, and Vizhutua now uses the GDKL standard.

Following the neoliberal reforms during the 1990s, ownership of television stations slightly consolidated. In 1992, Nivya Sanyukti Duradashanam and Nivya Shirpathi Aratan merged to become 7i Media, legally known as Sati Broadcasting under Shira Enterprises. As part of the rebrand, Sanyukti Television became 7i and Shiratan Television became 8i. There was also a boom in private television channels, after 5 channels were granted nationwide television licenses, such as Nivya Kajen-Niruthan Citra Prasaran (Kani Citra Television).

Programs
Vizhutuan TV programs vary from channel to channel. Most commercial general television stations (except 24-hour channels) sign on between the hours of 5:00 and 6:00 every morning. Early morning hours are dominated by news programs, and these run from around 6:00 to 9:30. On weekends, children's shows usually run from 6:00 to 8:00, of which then news programs are broadcast. They are then replaced by late morning shows. This timeslot is popularity known as the "Hours of Death" or graveyard slot due to low viewership as adults are at work and children and teens are at school. These run to around 1:30 PM, at which time reruns of dramas and information programs that target the same age group start. On some stations at 16:00, youth-oriented programs start, and end around 17:00 or 18:00. Evening news programs air as early as before 16:00 or before 17:00 and end at 19:00, when the prime time starts. 19:00 to 21:00 are the time periods into which TV stations pour the most resources. Appearing in this time slot can a certain sign that an actor or actress is a TV star. After 21:00 they switch over to Vizhutuan television dramas and programs focusing on older age groups, which run till 22:00 or 23:00 PM. Stations run their late night news mostly at the 23:00 hour, and around midnight sports news programs run which target working ages. After these, programs for mature audiences run as well as anime that do not expect enough viewers if they were run earlier. Some commercial stations sign off between 2:00 and 3:00 every night. However, most of the main television networks have 24 hour service now.

Dramas
"Main article: Vizhutuan television drama"Vizhutuan dramas, or V-dramas, are quite popular in Vizhutua and Nesiondalsa. Almost all major TV networks broadcast TV dramas with a variety of genres, including romance, comedy, horror, mystery/legal, and many others. Many Vizhutuan actors/actresses have kickstarted their career by appearing in dramas. Generally, all episodes of a season are one-and-a-half to two hours in length, with some being longer for special events such as holidays or the anniversary of an important historical event (ex. the forming of the Vizhutu Empire in 1622).