Viewers forum since its inception in 1996 Viewer's Forum, an audience collective comprising primarily of women from all age groups and socio-economic stratas has been enabling viewers to play an active role in defining the media products they view.

Interactions are held with viewers at the level of neighborhood meetings, community associations and women's networks. The feedback is collected through focus group discussions, surveys and response diaries and viewer's opinions are presented to relevant stakeholders - program producers, channel executives and policy makers at interactions and public meetings. Petitions are also sent to regulatory bodies' etc.

The Forum's beginnings go back to the late 90s when members of the Media Advocacy Group interacted with women's organizations in the bastis of Delhi with the intention of sensitizing the media to the gender and social issues and concerns confronting them. The group dynamics that emerged motivated MAG to initiate similar meeting with women in other stratas of society in Delhi as also in Lucknow and Ahmedabad.

Variations in social status and varied life experiences were reflected in their perceptions about themselves, their understanding of the media and how they and their concerns were being portrayed by it. This was also reflected in the process of group formation, disintegration and regrouping that evolved during the formative years of the Forums. Today there is a middle-class group, which includes some males. The basti manch with viewers from the lower socio-economic strata and a third group comprising of viewers living with disabilities, which in fact has numerous male members.

Each group has its own agenda and they have been meeting separately with key persons involved in production- producers, directors, scriptwriters, policy makers - to share their concerns and suggestions on making the medium more relevant and socially conscious. For a couple of years the Forum also brought out a quarterly newsletter- Nazaria in Hindi and Viewer’s Voice in English.

Over the year the Forum has provided feedback on subjects ranging from the depiction of women in television soaps, the concept of beauty in television commercials and the coverage of natural calamities like the Gujarat earthquake. Beside enriching CFAR’s media research this feedback has enabled the Forum to advocate with the government and television channels.

CFAR has produced two publications on the Forum. “Viewers’ Voices” which documents the process that went into setting up the Forum and “Hear The People” which is an account of the main concern of Forum members.