The glory days of Indian television in the late ’80s and early ’90s had streets deserted, cabinet meetings rescheduled and wedding venues with screens set up for guests so that no one would miss the popular soaps that were telecast without re-runs then. Cut to today—television has undergone the biggest revolution. Next time you miss an episode of your favourite show there is no need to fret. You can catch it on the official website of the channel just a few hours after the broadcast. Moreover, you can also record it and watch it at your convenience.

Channels, which earlier guarded their content carefully, also seem to be enjoying the benefits of this newfound medium which allows them to cater to more audiences. Gaurav Gandhi, EVP business operations and content sales, NDTV Imagine, states the main reason for introducing this trend was to counter piracy. “There is rampant piracy on the net. Footages of our shows are available on various websites. So it was a far better option to stream content and gives our viewers a chance to watch it on our websites legitimately.”

Shows like Bandini, Palkon Ko Chaaon Main and Basera are currently online as are older shows like Radhaa Ki Betiyaan and Rakhi Ka Swayamvar which can be downloaded. Sunil Bohra, producer of Seeta aur Geeta, one of the shows available online, agrees that there is an ever-increasing online video consumption among viewers looking for quality content and hence online content gets noticed easily. “This way we can be at the forefront and provide viewers with whatever content and whenever they require it.”

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