August 27,2014: Government ventures have seldom succeeded in India and some of the ailing commercial initiatives include IDPL, Air India and HMT. When it comes to Doordarshan, the successive governments could not rectify the infirmity owing to an inflexible approach that made for the self-destruction that has resulted in a downfall in the TV ratings losing the audience connect.
However, the Minister of Broadcasting (MIB) is there for the rescue as he revealed that he aims to make Doordarshan and the state-run All India Radio the first choice for the viewers. But, it cannot be compared to the private channels that are commercially in terms of current Indian views.
The Prasar Bharati, the largest public broadcaster inIndiaand an autonomous body set up by the Act of Parliament comprises Doordarshan television network and All India Radio that were the earlier media channels. Sadly, the broadcaster remains under the shadow of the government.
According to Jawhar Sircar, Chief Executive Officer of Prasar Bharati, the channel will make its global appearance within a few months. If things happen as per schedule, Doordarshan Indian will be launching on 120 million European households before the next year.
Earlier this year, Prasar Bharati into a MoU with Germany’s Public International Broadcaster Deutsche Welle for distribution of DD India on a free-to-air basic package mode, DTH platform of Hotbird-13B satellite across regions such as Europe, Asia, North Africa, Australia and Middle East.
Interestingly, the channel would be offered in a basic package of DTH service and it will not require any subscription or payment. To witness growth, DD currently has a budget of Rs 2-3 crore per year for production of programmes for the international channel and this amount is likely to grow in future. The channel will focus on different cultures and languages based on the region with different set of programmes that will be finalized after consulting the ministries that are concerned to suit the likes of the target audience.
Prasar Bharati launched DD International (DD3) in March 1995 in order to cater to audiences in different parts of the world. This channel was renamed DD World in 2000 and was later changed to DD India two years later.
