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Tag: AIR

  • Govt yet to work out details of Krishi channel, says I&B Ministry

    Govt yet to work out details of Krishi channel, says I&B Ministry

    NEW DELHI: Even as details are being worked out by Prasar Bharati in consultation with the stakeholders for a Krishi (farmer) channel as outlined by the finance minister Arun Jaitley in his budget, no definite timeframe has been fixed for commencement of the channel.

     

    Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry sources said this will depend on availability of resources and manpower after the details have been worked out. 

     

    Jaitley had announced in his budget speech on 10 July that a sum of Rs 100 crore would be allocated for this channel. However, the budget for the I&B Ministry shows an allocation of Rs 90 crore for this in the year 2014-15.

     

    Meanwhile, the Krishi Darshan programmes of Doordarshan are being telecast under the ‘mass media support to agriculture extension’ funded by the Agriculture Ministry focussing on dissemination of modern agricultural techniques by involving experts from various fields like insurance, banking, credit for farmers, state government schemes on agriculture/ fisheries/veterinary science/water and soil conservation/social forestry etc.

     

    In addition, a recently introduced programme Mera Gaon Connection telecast at prime time on DD National also introduces modern agricultural techniques to the viewers.  

     

    Meanwhile, Minister of State for Agriculture and Food Processing Industries Sanjeev Kumar Balyan told Parliament that the “mass media support to agricultural extension and focused publicity campaigns has been strengthened to reach out to all farmers including small and marginal.”

     

    The audio and video spots and success stories are being aired through All India Radio (AIR), Doordarshan and private channels operating at the national and regional level.  

     

    The other component of the mass media initiative is the use of 96 FM Transmitters of AIR to broadcast area specific agricultural programmes with 30 minutes radio transmission in the evening six days a week. Focused advertisement campaigns which cut across all the divisions of the ministry have been continuing since July 2010.

     

    The campaigns are being launched through print as well as electronic media to create awareness about the assistance available under various schemes of the Department of Agriculture and Cooperation.

  • Inquiry ordered into crash of AIR FM tower servicing five private FM operators in Delhi

    Inquiry ordered into crash of AIR FM tower servicing five private FM operators in Delhi

    NEW DELHI: The government has ordered an inquiry into the reported crash during a storm on 30 May of the 149-meter high power FM transmitter of All India Radio in Kingsway Camp in north Delhi.

     

    The services of five private FM operators who were using this transmitter were ‘severely’ disrupted following the crash as the antennae and feeder cable were damaged.

     

    The tower was built by the Broadcast Engineering Consultants (India) out of funds provided by the government.

     

    The inquiry to be completed within 15 days and submitted to Information and Broadcasting Ministry secretary Bimal Julka will be conducted by former AIR chief engineer Mukul Tyagi, former TSL (Allahabad) chief manager A K M Tripathy, Prasar Bharati director (E) P Das, and Telecom Engineering Centre director (Radio) Bal Kishan.

     

    The Committee will go into the circumstances of the crash, and construction of the tower including site selection and awarding of tenders etc. Any expenditure involved in testing samples of the tower will be borne by the government.

  • Telecast of DD to be made mandatory on all cable and DTH platforms: Javadekar

    Telecast of DD to be made mandatory on all cable and DTH platforms: Javadekar

    NEW DELHI: Telecast of Doordarshan will be made mandatory on every direct to home and cable network, according to Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar.

     

    Speaking at a press meet in Ahmedabad, Javadekar said his aim was to make Doordarshan and All India Radio the first choice for viewers.

     

    Javadekar invited suggestions from the public in this regard. “I held a meeting with local officials and asked them to come with ideas to improve the content of DD and AIR,” he said. “To do that, we have decided to invite suggestions from people about what they would like to watch and listen,” he added.

     

    “We are taking steps to make Doordarshan channels available in all cable TV as well as direct to home platforms.”

     

    He stressed on the need to convert the Medium Wave (MW) frequency of Akashvani to FM, “as a majority of radio sets catch only FM signals these days.”

     

  • Esha Media Research may foray into radio monitoring

    Esha Media Research may foray into radio monitoring

    KOLKATA: Esha Media Research, a media monitoring and research company, which currently monitors 140 channels across the nation, in all languages, is mulling to start radio monitoring.

     

    The centre is considering allowing privately-owned FM radio channels to start their own news broadcast.

     

    Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar in an earlier statement to the media had said, “My heart goes out to all the private FM players. I see no reason why it should not be allowed or why only All India Radio (AIR) can air news. Soon the auction for phase III will start and after that, one will hear the good news.”

     

    The Bombay Stock Exchange (BSE) listed Esha Media already has the system and technology for radio monitoring in place.

     

    “We will start radio monitoring if the privately-owned FM radio channels start having dedicated news slots. We will see how many stations come up and what kind of news slots and contents are created for their news broadcast,” says Esha Media Research managing director RS Iyer.

     

    He pinpoints that since radio can be played while on the move, so if the platform can create good programme schedules, then Esha is likely to do well in that vertical as well. Around 95 per cent of the research agency revenue is generated from the institutional clients, that is, corporate.

     

    “If there is more corporate and current affairs content, it would be beneficial for us,” he says.

     

    Presently, all the FM broadcasters, apart from AIR, are not allowed to air any news on current affairs, except for weather reports, stock market news and local traffic updates.

     

    A city-based expert on the development says, “Once radio stations start airing news, the way advertisers and audience look at the medium will change. Apart from this, a lot of potential change in programming and tie ups with news agencies could be expected once the guidelines are clear.”

     

    On Esha entering the radio monitoring space, he says, “It is a very progressive and logical step for Esha to foray into a similar business interest.”

     

    Similarly, Incubators Group chairperson Kaushlendra Singh Sengar too feels that it is an innovative and good effort initiated by the company.

     

    He, however, sounded a note of caution. He believes that keeping the future trend in mind it does not seem productive as today one can get news updates on phone, social networking portals and other web portals. “Listening to music on radio is one thing, but we can’t expect much growth in the near future for radio channels dedicated to news updates only.”

  • DD, AIR to fast-track work on building archives and putting them in public domain

    DD, AIR to fast-track work on building archives and putting them in public domain

    NEW DELHI: Doordarshan and All India Radio have embarked upon a project to immortalise over 60 maestros such as Hindustani classical vocalist Pandit Jasraj and veteran playback singer Lata Mangeshkar along with their “signature performances.”

     

    The list of legendary artistes earmarked for the archival series project includes Hindustani vocalist Kishori Amonkar, Carnatic vocalists M Balamuralikrishna and Nedunuri Krishnamurthy, composer M S Viswanathan, Carnatic flautist N Ramani, Sarangi player Ustad Sabri Khan, and Mridangam maestro T K Murthy among others.

     

    While both AIR and Doordarshan already have extensive archives and work for archiving other works is in progress, Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar said the main purpose of fast tracking the archival material of AIR and DD is to disseminate digital wealth to the public at large.

     

    Prasar Bharati has constituted a National Archival Committee of experts which includes Prema Cariappa, Shubha Chaudhuri, Uma Shankar, Suresh Chand Vankar and other senior officers from Doordarshan and AIR for the purpose of developing a roadmap.

    Doordarshan and AIR have already started compiling the data to ensure that the high-quality video and audio content is brought in the public domain.

     

    Prasar Bharati has instructed both Doordarshan and AIR to create a world class archival wing to digitize and fast track the development of its archival material.

     

    The task of indexation/categorisation/creation of metadata of the archived programmes so as to make them accessible at a later stage have already been initiated. The archival material would thus be repurposed and repackaged before it is being brought into the public domain.

     

    Noting that the reach of All India Radio and Doordarshan was the largest among all radio and TV channels and yet its advertising revenue was the lowest, a Parliamentary Committee had some years earlier said the public service broadcasters needs to project itself to the public.

     

    The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Information Technology said that according to the Information and Broadcasting Ministry both AIR and DD Archives can be a rich source of revenue generation.

     

    It said there is ‘urgent need’ to explore the ways to earn revenue nationally and internationally from these treasures on the part of the Ministry as well as All India Radio and Doordarshan.

     

    The Committee recommended that the details of the archives which can be made commercially available should be put on the website of Doordarshan/All India Radio/Ministry and publicised through various mechanisms which would definitely help in generating more revenue from this precious resource.

     

    The extent of revenue that can be generated through these archives is evident from the fact that the footage for one minute is provided by Doordarshan at the rate of Rs 6000 per minute to people making documentaries for telecast on any channel. The Committee was informed that 100 DVD titles have been handpicked from the Archive of Doordarshan and are available for viewing to the public at large.

  • Prasar Bharati to be upgraded as MIB plans to invest Rs 3,500 crore in it

    Prasar Bharati to be upgraded as MIB plans to invest Rs 3,500 crore in it

    MUMBAI: The government broadcaster, Prasar Bharati is set to see a major advancement. Reportedly, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting (MIB) is planning to invest close to Rs 3,500 crore on upgrading the pubcaster’s broadcast infrastructure and network development, especially in the border areas of Jammu and Kashmir and the North-Eastern states.

    According to a report by The Hindu Business Line, the proposal has been recommended by the Expenditure Finance Committee and is up for approval from the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA). “The funds are expected to be used to strengthen the transmission in border areas by augmenting the broadcast infrastructure so as to counter anti-terrorist activities, among other initiatives,” reveals the daily.

    Apart from this, the fund is also expected to be used for digitisation of transmitters and studios of All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan, High Definition TV, expansion of DD Direct to Home and modernisation of DD and AIR. 

    Reportedly, the Ministry is already monitoring this project through inter-ministerial meetings with representatives from the Ministries of Home Affairs, External Affairs, Defence, and the Cabinet Secretariat, among others.

    Currently, 273 TV transmitters are operational in the border districts. “In J&K, five high power TV transmitter projects are under implementation, while plans are afoot to put in more transmitters in the Indo-Nepal border,” reports the daily.

  • Why telecasting cricket hurts DD

    Why telecasting cricket hurts DD

    MUMBAI: It has been six years that India’s public broadcaster Doordarshan (DD) started showing cricket matches to the Indian audience for free, allowing even the underprivileged viewers to watch their favourite sport.

    Apparently the public broadcaster has to pay a price for citizens of India to watch cricket matches for free. And if you think it hardly matters, it’s about time to correct it. Let’s first understand how the whole process actually works.

     In 2007, the Sports Broadcasting Act was passed that stated that live signals of all cricket matches (ODI and T20) of national importance that are played in India must be shared with the public broadcaster DD and AIR (All India Radio). Post the formation of this law, any commercial sports channel needs to share its signals with DD for all such matches. In a recent ruling, it directed Star Sports to provide feeds without advertisements since Star Sports is currently the right holder of these matches.

    Before a series, both the commercial broadcaster and DD get together and bid for the Revenue Management Control (RMC).The highest bidder becomes the RMC and gets the rights to market the advertisements for the match. According to the Act, 75 per cent of the revenue will be with the main channel and 25 per cent will be with DD. All the money is pooled into an escrow account to maintain transparency over the dealings and revenue earned. If DD makes more than the bidding amount, it profits, but if it doesn’t meet the target then it has to shell out money from its pocket to give the 75 per cent of the bid amount to the other party.

    Mukesh Sharma feels that it it the well wishes of people that works for DD in the end

    When DD telecasts these important matches, it loses out the revenue that it generates from its daily soaps on the national channel. At the same time, the regional channels have terrestrial support between 8: 00 pm to 11: 00 pm from the national channel. So, while a match is aired on one channel, shows from several DD channels are cut off for hours.

    “For DD, this is a loss making exercise but the government wants to show cricket to even those who cannot pay for the commercial channels,” says DD Sahyadri additional director general Mukesh Sharma.

    DD has always battled to have at least a 50:50 deal along with suitable changes in the law. The revenue that DD makes through its shows, which would have been telecast in place of the cricket match, is called as the opportunity cost (OC). In order for DD to gain its OC, it has to earn four times the revenue from the cricket match. For example, if the OC is Rs 5 crore, then DD needs to make Rs 20 crore (excluding tax) so that Rs 15 crore is given to the channel that holds the rights and DD recovers Rs 5 crore.

    However, the possibility of this happening is nearly zero because of the difference in advertisers on board with DD and the commercial channel. Factors such as opponent country, type of match, time of viewing, audience demographics come into the picture. For an India vs Pakistan match, the ad rates may be high, the bid would be high too as compared to an India vs Zimbabwe one. “During prime time, we suffer huge losses and there isn’t much money in the market that can help us recover our opportunity cost,” adds Sharma.

    Had test matches also been included in the Act, probably the pubcaster would have been constantly stitching holes in its pocket. In fact, a recent letter by the Prasar Bharati to the Ministry of Information & Broadcasting  (I&B), DD said that although it had wanted to telecast Sachin Tendulkar’s  final match, restrictions in the Act and the possibility of a huge financial loss thwarted it from doing so. The OC for the two test matches would be Rs 10 crore as compared to the advertising revenue of just Rs 1 crore. That signals a loss of Rs 9.25 crore for it.

    The letter also highlighted how it was a huge financial loss for DD when the money allotted to Prasar Bharati was cut down. Therefore, another request to amend the act has been put forth that lets the pubcaster choose the matches it wants to telecast and the channel on which it wants to show it.

    The Sports Broadcasting Act of 2007 says, “No content rights owner or holder and no television or radio broadcasting service provider shall carry a live television broadcast on any cable or Direct- to- Home network or radio commentary broadcast in India of sporting events of national importance, unless it simultaneously shares the live broadcasting signal, without its advertisements, with the Prasar Bharati to enable them to re-transmit the same on its terrestrial networks and Direct- to- Home networks in such manner and on such terms and conditions as may be specified.”

    Prasar Bharati has asked for it to be changed to “its terrestrial networks or Direct- to- Home networks” or “on its FTA networks available on various platforms” so that they have flexibility on the channel they want to show it. The OC on DD Sports is negligible.

    Prasar Bharati has been asking for the revenue sharing to be changed to 40:60 in its favour. Since the initiation of the Act, 43 such matches have been telecast (ODIs and T20) till November 2012. Out of them, in 18 matches the bid amount quoted was not enough to meet the OC while for 25 matches it suffered a loss even when the OC was not realised. The demand for changes in the act, it says, will be consistent with its aim to provide viewers free viewing of the matches without having to subscribe to pay channels.

    “It needs to be re-emphasised that carriage of sporting events of national importance on DD National results in disruption of normal programmes and loss of precious revenue. The proposed amendment will help Prasar Bharati in realising optimally its existing revenue potential and enhancing it further,” reads a letter dated 17 September 2013 by Prasar Bharati finance member B B Pandit to the I & B ministry additional secretary J S Mathur.

    Star Sports is currently the channel that has the rights to broadcast all such matches and has to share the feed with DD. The channel refused to comment on this story saying the matter is sub-judice. In October this year, the Delhi High Court directed Star Sports to provide signals devoid of advertisements to DD, which it had earlier said it cannot do as they come embedded with the feed.

    DD is a public broadcaster so its main sources of revenue are public funds and advertising revenue. “Well, even if we don’t get any money, we make do with the well wishes of the people,” says Sharma.

  • Tewari launches Bharat Nirman portal, AIR News on SMS Service

    Tewari launches Bharat Nirman portal, AIR News on SMS Service

    NEW DELHI: A total of 69,491 video spots were released to cable and satellite television channels for the first and second phases of the Bharat Nirman Campaign, including 3,660 spots to Doordarshan.

    Radio aired a total of 107,532 spots including 12,600 by All India Radio across 92 stations and 94,932 spots across 216 private FM stations. This was apart from 6,048 spots aired on 36 community radio stations.

    These figures were revealed by Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari at the launch of the online portal for the Bharat Nirman Campaign which provides an interactive digital platform for the creative campaign on various schemes and programmes of the campaign.

    The Minister also launched All India Radio`s free News SMS service. The service provides AIR news headlines free of cost to its subscribers on mobile telephones. There are two or three headlines in each SMS, which also carried a public service information message.

    The event was attended among others by I&B Secretary Bimal Julka, DAVP Director General G Mohanty, Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar, Director General (Media and Communications) Neelam Kapoor, and All India Radio Director General L D Mandloi.

    AIR News Services Division Director General Archana Datta said there will be three updates everyday. She clarified this would not replace the news on phone which people would continue to get.

    People willing to subscribe to the service can SMS “AIRNEWS <space> their name” to 08082080820. They can also give a missed call to 08082080820 to subscribe to the service. So far 200,000 people have subscribed to the service.

    Anurag Srivastava, Joint Secretary in charge of New Media said the digital platform is both in English and Hindi with creatives in 11 regional languages. The portal enables the user to get information about the Bharat Nirman and the Flagship schemes at a single place. There were six tabs on the home page on certain schemes like Aadhar card, Food Security, Real Estate, Street Vendors, Direct Benefit Transfer, and land acquisition.

    It also has live integration with social media platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and YouTube. The portal has apps for mobiles and tablets to provide easy reading. The website is available at www.bharat-nirman.in.

    The first phase of Bharat Nirman was launched in May and the second phase in August. The 360 degree communication approach used all formats of media such a TV, radio, print, outdoor publicity and special outreach programmes.

    A total of 9.7 lakh spots were screened in the two phases over 8,231 empanelled digital screens in theatres.

    A total of 27,870 advertorials were carried across about 1,450 newspapers including 9,000 strip ads.

    Outdoor displays for the Bharat Nirman in the two phases were put up at 7,715 sites.

    The multi media campaign was supported by a strong media outreach programme through eight Public Information Campaigns (PICs) in rural areas conducted by the Press Information Bureau (PIB) with support from the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity (DAVP), the Directorate of Field Publicity (DFP) and the Song and Drama Division. So far, four PICs have been supported by the ‘Jamunia’ Sound and Light Show.

    The Song and Drama Division is also developing a new production taking forward the theme of ‘Priya Power’ which is scheduled to be launched in mid-September at the Red Fort grounds, New Delhi.

    In addition, Prasar Bharati conceptualised different programmes such as serials, interviews of eminent personalities and success stories/achievements of flagship schemes. Doordarshan has been airing a serial named Poorva Suhani Aaye Re every Wednesday and Thursday at 10.00 pm and All India Radio has come up with a serial named “Priya”.

    The Minister said a scientific approach has been undertaken to monitor and evaluate the Bharat Nirman Media Campaign.

    Later asked about the Indian Shining campaign of the previous government, he said the Bharat Nirman campaign was not linked to elections as it had commenced as early as 2007. India Shining on the other hand was a shoddy attempt on the eve of the polls, he said.

    He said that while new media was a highly empowering tool, it had to be ensured that it was developed with certain responsibility.

    He said the Press Council of India had been asked to go into measures that can be taken to ensure the safety of mediapersons.

  • DD, AIR to commence fiction series depicting issues of rural India

    DD, AIR to commence fiction series depicting issues of rural India

    NEW DELHI: Come Thursday and Doordarshan and All India Radio will air fiction shows which highlight the travails of the rural poor and how flagship programmes help them overcome their problems. While DD will showcase Poorva Suhani Aayi Re, the All India Radio will air Priya.

     

    Poorva Suhani Aayi Re is a 52 episode soap directed by Sanjiv Kaul of Kyunki Saas bhi kabhi bahu thhi fame. Priya is a 12 episode show which will reach audiences pan-India through AIR’s various channels, in 22 languages. The protagonists of both programmes are women – Poorva being a married woman and Priya a poor uneducated girl.

     

    While the soap on Doordarshan will be aired every Thursday at 10.00 pm, the AIR series will be broadcast on different channels at different times. Produced by AIR Delhi, it will be broadcast every Thursday with effect from 8 August at 6.15 to 6.30 pm from Vividh Bharati MW 219.3 mtr. i.e. 1368 KHz and every Friday from 9 August on FM (Gold) 106.4 MHz at 12.10 pm to 12.25 pm, on FM (Rainbow) 102.6 MHz at 2.45 pm and also on Indraprastha Channel MW 366.3 mtr. – 819 KHz at 12.45 pm to 1.00 pm in Women’s Programme Aadha Akash Hamara.

     

    Poorva Suhani Aayi Re tells the story of the illiterate village girl Poorva, a highly motivated woman who through her courage and commitment gives a voice to her fellow villagers and makes them aware of the benefits of various welfare schemes and policies and helps them to improve their living standards.

     

    The serial takes viewers on the journey of Poorva and how slowly she plays a pivotal role in shaping the future of the village/ panchayat, fight for the rights of people and empowering the voiceless. Poorva Suhani Aayi Re, will showcase real life success stories of people who have benefited from the government’s policies, in a fiction format.

     

    Speaking at a press meet today, Kaul said that the series had been suitably dramatised to ensure viewer interest and aims at being a propagandistic programme. “We want to give the real picture of rural India. TV is not about stars but about the script. Certain actors become stars only because of good scripts.”

     

    Doordarshan director general Tripurari Sharan said that the series is based on real-life stories of women in different parts of the country, who have come into the vortex of democracy. “Though an element of drama has been added to keep the viewer glued, the stories are based on real experiences,” he informed.

     

    Denying any allegations on the series being a propaganda for the elections next year he said, “Even series like Hum and Jamuniya dealt with similar subjects.”

     

    Among the others present in the press meet were deputy director general Ranjan Thakur and Raj Shekhar Vyas. Addressing the media Thakur said, “The role of the public service broadcaster has acquired a new meaning in the past two years.”

  • IRS Q4 2012: Press continues to lose

    MUMBAI: According to the Indian Readership Survey for Q4 2012 conducted by Media Research Users Council (MRUC) and Hansa Research, seven out of the top ten dailies (across languages) have lost readership. These include Dainik Jagran, Dainik Bhaskar, Amar Ujala, The Times of India, Daily Thanthi, Lokmat and Matrubhumi.

    The pecking order of the top ten dailies remains unchanged with Hindi daily Dainik Jagran continuing its reign at the number one spot. The publication saw a reduction in its readership as compared to the third quarter from average issue readership (AIR) number falling from 164.74 million in Q3 to 163.70 million in Q4. Second spot holder Dainik Bhaskar saw a similar fate as its AIR decreased from 144.91 million in Q3 to 144.16 million in Q4.

    English dailies seem to be holding ground. In their case, just five of the Top 10 dailies lost readership. The Times of India, The Hindu, Deccan Chronicle, The Economic Times and The New Indian Express. While The Times of India continued to take the top spot, its readership fell from 7.653 million in Q3 to 7.615 million in Q4. The only change in the pecking order of English dailies happened with The Tribune taking ninth place (previously tenth; AIR 671000 for Q4) to replace The New Indian Express (previously ninth; AIR 652000 for Q4).

    For the language dailies, the pecking order remained unchanged with Malayalam Manorama retaining the top position and saw an increase in readership from 9.752 million in Q3 to 9.76 million in Q4. Six of the top ten language dailies lost readership with the biggest loser being Dinakaran that lost 96000 AIR (4.912 million in Q3; 4.816 million in Q4).