Did you know the idea to re-run Ramayana on Doordarshan was laughed upon?

The government decided to re-run old series of Ramayana and Mahabharata amid the COVID-19 lockdown. Ramayana and Mahabharata has taken Doordarshan to top of the television ratings, according to Broadcast Audience Research Council of India (BARC) rating.

DD brought back the famous shows on public request as people sit at home quarantined due to coronavirus lockdown. But did you know that 

However, Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati remembered how his WhatsApp groups were buzzing with laughter when DD had announced the broadcast of nostalgia shows including Ramayan, soon after PM Modi ordered the first lockdown.

"They're all, like, laughing. Who's going to watch it? I had to tell them that, you know, India is very different. It's not just the English speaking elite, it's much bigger, much more diverse. So there was that worry," Vempati said in an interview.

But after the re-runs of the show started, Doordarshan soared past in rankings for top Indian channels.

WORLD RECORD!!
Rebroadcast of #Ramayana on #Doordarshan smashes viewership records worldwide, the show becomes most watched entertainment show in the world with 7.7 crore viewers on 16th of April pic.twitter.com/hCVSggyqIE

— Doordarshan National (@DDNational) April 30, 2020