The Government made a big mistake by privatising the broadcasting sector. Had they followed the ITV (UK) model of broadcasting and improved the terrestrial network in India, then this wouldn't have happened. But they didn't. They neglected the terrestrial network badly to favour the cable TV service providers.
After DD switched to colour from B&W, its ad revenues started increasing. It also started getting many sponsors. Government should have taken note of this before including the broadcasting sector in its privatisation drive, and instead, they should've set up a different body for commercial television broadcasting. Just like the ITV in the UK.
You may be wondering why I always give the reference of ITV UK in my posts. Well, my friends, it has a long history. The television itself was invented in the UK a hundred years ago. The first Television broadcast started in the UK before it began expanding globally. BBC had a monopoly in television broadcasting those days. There were two channels, namely BBC 1 and BBC 2. This monopoly was finally done over with via the passage of a new law in 1954 by the house of commons. It set up a new body called Independent Television Authority to facilitate and administer the Commercial Television business in the UK. It was because of this act that ITV was born to serve as a second (rather third) broadcaster in the UK. And you know what? They even improved and expanded the terrestrial network infrastructure in the UK for the smooth running of the service. Moreover, the companies who were awarded broadcasting licenses for different regional franchises of ITV were not private companies at all.
The UK showed that commercial broadcasting can also be done without going the privatisation way. It's a different story that subsequent governments amended the law in the coming years just for their own vested interests. But just think, if this model was implemented in India, it could have been a gamechanger for the broadcasting sector in the country. Alas, our Government thought that privatisation of the sector was the only option to save the country from a financial crisis, which actually turned out to be a bigger crisis for DD.
Nowadays, there are absolutely no sponsors or advertisers for any show of DD. The ads that you see on DD News are mainly of Public Sector companies and of Government agencies. If DD wants to resurrect from its current situation, then it should pressurise the Government to announce a special package for redevelopment and reconstitution of the DD network. That's the only solution left for DD to rise out from the ashes like a phoenix.
You may arguably deny the fact, and may not like what I said, but this is the harsh truth my friend.