The first challenge to the government's control of the airwaves came in the 1990s, with increasing economic privatization. The programming viewers received consisted largely of imports, such as talk shows and sitcoms, especially those beamed in by STAR, a satellite broadcasting service covering 38 countries across Asia. Indians, however, soon began to reassert control. Indian entrepreneurs produced their own sitcoms and soap operas in Hindi. This increasing competition between government, other Indian, and foreign producers proves that simplistic assumptions can't hold in the diverse country of India.
Viewers are predominantly urban and middle class.
With depictions of affluence and ads for jeans and soft drinks, Indian television in the late 1990s caters to people with money to spend. Haruko Do Haruko Do, a member of Eastern's Class of '98, has attracted lots of attention in Japan. Do has opened a school for bakers in Tokyo featuring traditional New England baking techniques she learned during her days at Eastern. The school opened in September and has attracted many students, both women and men. Do has been featured in at least two major media outlets in Japan, Tokyo News Rail and Pota Tokyo.