Indian TV channels, in the recent years, have mushroomed as the television industry developed. The small screen programming commenced in the early 1980s and since then Indian television channels have grown in leaps and bounds. Initially it was only the Doordarshan, a national channel that served as the source of information and entertainment. However, with the introduction of satellite television the scenario altered. Several TV channels came into existence and these were available in various Indian languages, such as, Hindi language, Bengali language, Tamil language, Kannada language, Oriya language, Telugu language, Gujarati language, Bhojpuri language, Punjabi language, Urdu language, etc. The Indian TV channels broadcast serials, news, sports, documentaries, movies and several other shows. Currently, there are several free and subscription services, which provide over 515 channels.

History of Indian TV Channels
The Ramayana and Mahabharata were the first major television series that were aired. These two serials notched up the world record in terms of viewer ship. By the end of 1980s, more and more people began to own television sets. Television programming had reached its saturation as there was an only one channel. Hence the government introduced another channel, which partly had national programming and partly regional. This channel was termed as DD 2 later DD Metro. Both channels were broadcast terrestrially.

In the year 1992, 5 new channels belonging to the Hong Kong based STAR TV provided a fresh breath to the Indian television. MTV, Star Plus, BBC, Prime Sports and STAR Chinese Channel were the 5 channels in those days. In south India the first private channel to be introduced was the Sun TV. Today it airs programmes in four different languages: Telugu, Tamil, Kannada and Malayalam. On the other hand, Zee TV was the first private owned Indian channel to be broadcasted in the country. A few years later CNN, Discovery Channel, National Geographic Channel were launched for the audience. Star also introduced other channels like Star World, Star Sports, ESPN and Star Gold. Over the years, several regional Indian TV Channels flourished along with other Hindi channels and some English channels. By 2001, HBO and History Channel were the other international channels that entered India. By 2001-2003, more international channels such as Nickelodeon, Cartoon Network, VH1, Disney, etc. came in the country.

Development of Indian TV Channels
The year 2003 marked the boom of authentic news channels in India. Aastha TV is one of the most popular socio-spiritual-cultural television channel broadcasting India`s rich heritage and currently. This channel reaches over 20 million households with viewership that exceeds 100 million. Aaj Tak is India`s one of the leading news channel pioneered by TV Today Network Ltd. It is a 24-hour Hindi news television channel in India that has earned the tag line Nation`s Best News Channel due to its hard-line journalism and cutting edge reporting. Star News is the Hindi language News channel of Star group India. The channel presents an amalgamation of rolling news bulletins and specialised shows covering topics from crime to cricket. Cartoon Network India is arguably the most popular cartoon-dedicated television channel in India. It airs English and Hindi-dubbed versions of a variety of cartoons. Discovery Channel is a cable and satellite TV channel distributed by Discovery Communications that provides non-fiction programming focused on science, history and nature.

ETV Network is one of the largest networks of satellite television channels in India and is owned by the popular media baron Ramoji Rao. Based at Hyderabad, the network runs a group of 12 regional language news and entertainment channels. HBO Asia is a franchise of HBO in Asia. It is a joint venture of media giants Viacom, Sony HBO Pictures Entertainment, Time Warner and Universal Studios. Zee TV is one of the Indian TV Channels that is India-based satellite television channel and falls under the Zee Network umbrella. This channel carries broadcasts in Hindi and Urdu. The channel`s programming caters to all segments of audience, including primetime comedy and drama series, movies, miniseries, theatrical films, specials, children`s programmes, game shows, and late night shows. Sony is one of the country`s popular channels. The programming covers genres including dramas, reality shows, comedies, thrillers, Bollywood movies and events etc. Star Plus is one of the most widely viewed Indian TV channels. This general entertainment television channel is a part of the STAR TV networks offering a wide array of programming. Sahara One, Zoom, B4U Music, Star One are some more popular Indian TV channels for entertainment.

Apart from these, various new channels have been introduced to the Indian small screen, such as 9X Entertainment, UTV Movies, NDTV Imagine, NDTV Profit, Neo Sports, Star Ananda, Star Jalsa, Star Pravah, Bhakti TV, Maa TV, IBN Lokmat, Star Majha, Colours, Imagine TV, Zee Next, Disney Channel India, Spacetoons, Nickelodeon, Disney XD, Pogo, Enterr10, UTV Action, SET Max, Filmy, STAR Gold, UTV Bindass, B4U Movies, Zee Cinema, Masti, SS Music, Channel V, Music India, NDTV India, IBN-7, Zoom, AXN, CBS Prime, Fox Crime, Animal Planet, Zee Cafe, Discovery Turbo, Nat Geo Wild, TLC, NDTV Good Times, VH1, Lumiere Movies, Movies Now, WB Channel, UTV World Movies, PIX, Zee Studio, NDTV Profit, etc.

Besides these several cartoon channels are now also available in regional languages, like Hindi, Tamil, Telugu and others. With passing time the faces of entertainment will alter; and with it new channels will be launched to keep the audience entertained.