Established by the Government of India on 15 September 1959,[1] it is owned by the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting and constitutes one of Prasar Bharati's two divisions.

Regular daily transmission commenced in 1965 as part of All India Radio, with a five-minute news bulletin read by Pratima Puri.

[3] Krishi Darshan, which debuted on Doordarshan on 26 January 1967, holds the distinction of being Indian television's longest-running programme.

The live telecasts of the opening and closing ceremonies of the 2012 Summer Olympics were aired on Doordarshan's national channel, while DD Sports offered round-the-clock coverage of the event.

On 13 April 2020, Prasar Bharati launched DD Retro,[21] a channel dedicated to airing classic Hindi serials from Doordarshan.

However, transmission via Sky Digital ended in June 2008, followed by the termination of its broadcast via DirecTV in the United States the following month.

In response to the nationwide lockdown, DD network aired several nostalgic shows, including Mahabharat, Chanakya, Shri Krishna, Malgudi Days, Byomkesh Bakshi, and Shaktimaan.

Due to increasing public demand for such content, Prasar Bharati launched DD Retro, a full-time channel dedicated to these classics.

Prasar Bharati is the parent body of Doordarshan, and its board members are appointed by the Government of India through the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting.[24][relevant?

Additionally, Doordarshan was involved in the production of a video that claimed acts of violence, which, when investigated by independent journalists, were found to be false.

[30] Although Doordarshan earns significant advertising revenue—due to its compulsory feed from the highest bidder for national events, including cricket matches[31]— there has been a proposal to fund the network by imposing a licence fee for owning a television in India.