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Television was initiated in India to promote education and information and as a means of development communication. It was inspired by Italian television, the educational programmes of West European countries, and, at a later stage, the success of Mexico's 'Televisa', a private commercial network producing popular melodramatic series with a view to promoting family planning, adult literacy, health and sanitation. In the initial phase, the target audiences of Indian television were the poor, the illiterate, and the deprived masses, but in course of time, that agenda got eroded. The television industry underwent a massive transformation, from a tiny monopolised government controlled propagandists establishment to a highly market-centric, investment-oriented one feeding on advertising revenues. This meant that television programme genres originated from its popularity rating by an 'audience' that represented the Indian consumer market. In order to promote programmes of substance, Doordarshan began to broadcast quality programming, but most of it catered to the intellectual appetite of a section of the urban and semi-urban elite and middle class, leaving the poor and the illiterate, mainly residing in the rural areas, untouched. Moreover, under the new State policy of privatisation and globalisation, all the early objectives lost fundamental relevance.

The fifth edition of Marcel Danesi's Popular Culture is an accessible, engaging introduction for popular culture, media and society, and sociology of the media courses. The fifth edition features updated coverage on social media and digital cultures, including those surrounding memes, video games, virtual reality, and streaming services. Pop culture surrounds us. It infuses the movies we watch, the music we listen to, the books we read, the clothes we wear, and the food we eat. It comes to us on our televisions, phones, computers, radio, and in every storefront and billboard we pass on the street. Danesi delves into the social structures that create and promote pop culture, showing how it validates our common experiences. Offering a variety of perspectives on its many modes of creations and delivery, Danesi shows why pop culture will always be something we love to hate and hate to love.