Indian television and the rise of the local: televised realities of localized sociocultural experience

Abstract

This chapter explores the idea that the influence of television on the localized public provides new pathways for the 'local' to emerge out of traditional contexts to new grounds of modernity. The visibility of the localized subjects on the television screen and their individual participation in popular programmes distinguishes the television public from earlier forms of interactions in the form of socialization and collective viewing. The current chapter critically approaches the notion of 'localized sociocultural experience' through the analysis of "televised realities" on Indian television. It argues that Indian reality television thrives on the emotional revenue of middle-class aspirations and the commodification of local poverty culture.