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A study conducted by the Centre for Advocacy and Research for UNESCO in 1998 accuses the idiot box of bombarding young minds with all kinds of violent images,cutting across channels,programmes and viewing times. 

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Objective Study 
1. To quantify the extent of violence in drama serials across five channels. 
2. To identify the nature and types of violence being depicted. 
3. To identify the audiences targetted-Particularly children-by such serials and by the advertisers who are sponsoring the serials. 
Drama serials of different genres across 5 channels were selected- 

• Daily soaps/drama serials/suspense horror in the prime time evening and afternoon bands as well as selected news items.
• In all, 56 hours 20 minutes were monitored, among them 81 serial episodes, 6 news bulletins and two current affairs programmes, and one documentary
• Zee, Star Plus and DDI have received a higher degree of representation because of the greater concentration of serials in the prime time and afternoon transmission.

• In all 59 types of violence, both audio and visual, both physical and psychological were identified. Of these threats, slapping, screaming, shooting, assaulting, expletives, pushing, clobbering, stabbing, mental torture, eerie soundtracks, threatening music are extremely prominent. These categories of violence account for over 50 per cent of the total acts depicted. Hence much of the violence is explicit and graphic.
• Some depictions of violence are unnecessarily lengthy.
• Nearly one-third of the depictions (283 acts out of a total of 759 acts) appeared in 25 per cent or 21 out of 81 episodes monitored. These 21 episodes were in the genre of horror/ murder/ mystery/ suspense thrillers.
• Some of these serials are often the most violent or disturbing - especially for children. For example: X-Zone and Anhonee (Zee) together had 118 or 53 and 65 acts of violence respectively; Aahat (Sony) had 13 acts of violence; Kohra (STAR Plus) had 30 acts of violence in a single episode

In a single episode of the serial Gumraah there were 32 acts, while there were 17 acts of violence in the child-specific Shaktimaan.  

Areas of Concern 

Within the larger question of the depiction of violence, there were specific areas of concern. These include:Programme schedules, Violent promos, Treatment and depiction,Representation of child and gender-based violence,Glorification of violence, and the role of companies and sponsors specialising in children's products supporting such programmes.  

Programme Schedule 

Channel-specific concentration 

On different channels, we found that nbsp;  specific days were more prone to violence than other days. For example, Tuesday on Sony Entertainment, Monday on Star Plus and Thursday and Sunday on Zee TV Network accounted for 35 per cent, 40 per cent and over 50 per cent, respectively, of the total acts of violence on the channel during the monitoring period. 

Time-slot cocentration 
Inter-channel rivalary and competition has led to a simultaneous scheduling of programme with high incidence of violence. These prime time serials in the 9.00 p.m. and 9.30 are often the most violent and disturbing kind-espetially for children. 
Below is a table with a few examples of violent programmes across channels in the same time zones or succeeding each other. 
 

DAY	TIME	PROGRAMME	CHANNEL
Tue	9.00 pm.	Raja Aur Rancho   Shapath  Alpviram	DD2  Zee  Sony
Wed.	9.30 pm.	Who  CID	Zee  Sony
Thu	9.00 pm.	Sea-Hawks  X-Zone	DD2  Zee
	9.30 pm	Aahat	Sony
	10.00 Pm.	Bhanwar	Sony

Repeats 
Even when programmes or films are telecast late at night, perhaps in an efforts to reduce children's access to them, they are repeated in the afternoon and early evenings. Satellite and cable TV channels repeat many violent programmes and films in the afternoons and early evenings. Fo0r instance, India's Most Wanted and Woh have repeat telecast at 4p.m., and 4.30 pm., Bhanwar is repeated at noon and the next afternoon in 3 pm. slot. 

Violent Promos 
Promos for all types of programmes-comedies, drama serials, films and even the news-carry very violent scenes in the belief that this is a hook for the viewer. Violence, more than any other ingredient is being used to sell and promote programmes. The promos of a comedy such as Tu Tu Main Main, or a serial such as Chattan are more violent that the programmes themselves. 

Treatment And Depiction 
Definition of Violence 
The fundamental defination of violence places emphasis on a number of elements including intention to harm/  
scare, the physical or mental nature of the harm and the involvement of animate beings. To quote from the National Television Survey of America: "Any overt depiction of a credible threat of physical (and even psychological) harm or the actual use of forces intended to harm an animate being or group of beings."  

1. Horror Shows  

There is conclusive evidence, tacitly accepted by the industry, that children watch prime time evening television. Television viewing in India is still considered a family affair and TV serials are produced for and aimed at the entire family. As children grow older, they tend to watch more adult programming. Thus children watch programmes in the 7.30 p.m.-10 p.m. belt and also beyond that. They watch horror shows and suspense serials (sometimes, despite strong parental disapproval).  

The issue of violence becomes critical because some of them go beyond the internationally acceptable limits of 5 to 6 acts of physical violence in a half-an-hour episode. While some reach figures ranging from 22 to 24 even serials targetted at children are not made an exception to this rule. 7 to 12 acts of violence exist even in them and they often include extreme acts such as murder, bombing and burning. (Anhonee, X-Zone, Shaktimaan and Raja Aur Rancho)  

Moreover, this excess depiction of physical acts of violence does not deter them from taking recourse to other categories of violence. Very often, they co-exist with other forms of violence such as verbal and bizarre sound effects which include music and occasionally even psychological violence.  

Certain serials take great care to avoid acts of physical violence but they repeatedly used eerie sound tracks, occasional hallucinations, nightmares, paranoia to build an atmosphere of terror.  

Recognising its implications, they are even telecasting a warning note on superstition and a belief in the paranormal are being telecast. The warning before Aahat for example states: "these stories are based on fantasy and are meant to entertain only.'' However, it was found that episodes dealing with superstition were not depicted as fantasy at all. The stories were often situated in perfectly realistic and every day situations and more importantly, based upon actual beliefs. 

If you examine the justification or reason of violence, we find that psychopathic behaviour accounts for percentages as high as 26% to 50% on a given day in a specific channel and within one episode of a programme can be even more than 50%. Other reasons are police interrogation, blackmail, revenge Rivalry, provoking aggression, dealing of the underworld, intergenerational conflict. 

These serials are being telecast at family viewing times. 

Hooking child-viewer to violence or horror in serials. 

• It is quite clear that horror shows and crime series target the child viewer. Audience rating in the 6-4 years age group indicate that Aahat, Anhonee, Bhanwar, India’s Most Wanted, X-Zone are in the top ten programmes watched by children in the last 2 months.
• The UNESCO report found that children admire superheroes. The serial Shaktimaaan is about a superhero who is capable of extraordinary physical feats. It is very popular with child viewers who are attracted by Shaktimaan’s exploits. Children tend to imitate such exploits and though there is a warning by the star of the serial against such imitation, there is a warning by the star of the serial against such imitations, there have been instances when children have tried and got hurt imitating Shaktimaaan.

The nature of the violence in a serial such as this is also manifold-as mentioned earlier, in one episode of Shaktimaan, there were 17 acts of violence in approximately 25 minutes. These included assaulting, slapping, punching, shooting, and strangulating, burning, pushing, stabbing as well as grotesque representations, bodily transformations and supernatural occurrences. 

• In both Who and Aur Rancho, the child viewers is being hooked to the serial by elements, which will appeal to children: i.e., the clown or joker in Who, and the monkey in Raja Aur Rancho.