This article examines the phenomenon of political talk shows during elections in geographically and politically marginal areas. Using the 2014 elections in India as a case study and focusing on Assam, the article examines how a television economy that includes poorly trained and ill-paid journalists, unscrupulous owners, and the stigma of paid news have used the format of “live television” as means of “representing” rural audiences. The “spectacle” of such shows has pushed television ratings up while trivializing democratic debate.
