Tag: Doordarshan

Balaji to invest Rs 200 cr in ALT, launch in Jan ’17

MUMBAI: Balaji Telfilms’ new venture, ALT Digital, which was earlier planned to be launched in October, has been pushed to January 2017. At present, Balaji is not actively involved with programme production. In future, it plans to launch eight shows. January–March cycle is a good time for ALT launch, the management of Ekta Kapoor’s company feels.

Balaji Telefilms raised Rs 150 crore through preferential allotment of equity shares at Rs 140 each to select global investors such as Atyant Capital India Fund – I, Vanderbilt University, GHI LTP Ltd, GHI HSP Ltd and GHI ERP Ltd. The amount has already been capitalised. So far, Balaji spent Rs 10 crore, but the real expense would start from January when it would deliver content, Balaji Telefilms group CEO Sameer Nair said while speaking to CNBC-TV18.

The total outlay for ALT would be about Rs 200 crore in which Balaji would invest Rs 65 crore, Nair said.

Nair said it was looking to expanding in various regions in India. Balaji Telefilms will look to air new shows on Sony, Sun TV and Doordarshan. It had been doing shows across the channels, and it was the absolute leader in the TV business. It does not have a show on Sony, and that was an opportunity, Nair said. They were also producing shows for Colors. Balaji was also looking at the DD slot policy, he said, adding that they would be bidding for a few slots there. In main GEC business, Balaji was doing good, he said.

After reporting a loss of Rs 28 crore as compared to profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 3.92 crore for the corresponding year-ago quarter, Balaji is planning to launch 8-10 shows by FY17-end. Both, television and film segment released a weak set of numbers at Balaji this financial year. Nair said that the new shows have a much lower margin.

Nair said that they look at TV and films numbers separately, and if one sees the TV business year on year, it actually grew on a half-yearly basis. There were new shows that would come on board, so as one could compare it with last year when they had six shows, and they were going to do 10 shows.

Balaji released Great Grand Masti and collections were significantly affected due to piracy of the movie ahead of its theatrical release. When it came to film business, of course there had been a disappointment and, the current quarter saw the full impact of unfortunate incidents that happened with Balaji; Grand Masti ‘leaked’ 21 days before the theatrical release. Therefore, Grand Mastii and Flying Jat didn’t do well which reflected in the current quarter, Nair said.

About the TV business, Nair said that television business worked on a revolving quarter. There was a reduced margin in the quarter when a show was launched. So, it was ideal to analysed the TV business on annual basis.

Balaji’s plan was to get next releases of movies in the next fiscal year, he said, adding that its film business would likely book profit in FY18. On an annual basis, because Balaji was opening at 20-25 per cent, the gross margin would go up by 35 per cent, Nair said. On an annual basis, he said, Balaji could grow by about 20 per cent year on year. From the revenue point of view, that might be little lower because of other income which would be lower this year, he added.

November 30, 2016
Balaji to invest Rs 200 cr in ALT, launch in Jan ’17

MUMBAI: Balaji Telfilms’ new venture, ALT Digital, which was earlier planned to be launched in October, has been pushed to January 2017. At present, Balaji is not actively involved with programme production. In future, it plans to launch eight shows. January–March cycle is a good time for ALT launch, the management of Ekta Kapoor’s company feels.

Balaji Telefilms raised Rs 150 crore through preferential allotment of equity shares at Rs 140 each to select global investors such as Atyant Capital India Fund – I, Vanderbilt University, GHI LTP Ltd, GHI HSP Ltd and GHI ERP Ltd. The amount has already been capitalised. So far, Balaji spent Rs 10 crore, but the real expense would start from January when it would deliver content, Balaji Telefilms group CEO Sameer Nair said while speaking to CNBC-TV18.

The total outlay for ALT would be about Rs 200 crore in which Balaji would invest Rs 65 crore, Nair said.

Nair said it was looking to expanding in various regions in India. Balaji Telefilms will look to air new shows on Sony, Sun TV and Doordarshan. It had been doing shows across the channels, and it was the absolute leader in the TV business. It does not have a show on Sony, and that was an opportunity, Nair said. They were also producing shows for Colors. Balaji was also looking at the DD slot policy, he said, adding that they would be bidding for a few slots there. In main GEC business, Balaji was doing good, he said.

After reporting a loss of Rs 28 crore as compared to profit after tax (PAT) of Rs 3.92 crore for the corresponding year-ago quarter, Balaji is planning to launch 8-10 shows by FY17-end. Both, television and film segment released a weak set of numbers at Balaji this financial year. Nair said that the new shows have a much lower margin.

Nair said that they look at TV and films numbers separately, and if one sees the TV business year on year, it actually grew on a half-yearly basis. There were new shows that would come on board, so as one could compare it with last year when they had six shows, and they were going to do 10 shows.

Balaji released Great Grand Masti and collections were significantly affected due to piracy of the movie ahead of its theatrical release. When it came to film business, of course there had been a disappointment and, the current quarter saw the full impact of unfortunate incidents that happened with Balaji; Grand Masti ‘leaked’ 21 days before the theatrical release. Therefore, Grand Mastii and Flying Jat didn’t do well which reflected in the current quarter, Nair said.

About the TV business, Nair said that television business worked on a revolving quarter. There was a reduced margin in the quarter when a show was launched. So, it was ideal to analysed the TV business on annual basis.

Balaji’s plan was to get next releases of movies in the next fiscal year, he said, adding that its film business would likely book profit in FY18. On an annual basis, because Balaji was opening at 20-25 per cent, the gross margin would go up by 35 per cent, Nair said. On an annual basis, he said, Balaji could grow by about 20 per cent year on year. From the revenue point of view, that might be little lower because of other income which would be lower this year, he added.

November 30, 2016
DD reaches 92 per cent of India; FreeDish 30 million homes

NEW DELHI: Doordarshan in terrestrial mode is estimated to be available to about 92 per cent population spread over 81 per cent area of the country, the Parliament has been told.

However, in satellite mode, multichannel TV coverage of Doordarshan reaches all the areas of the country through Doordarshan’s free-to-air DTH service FreeDish. It is possible to receive DTH signals anywhere in the country with the help of a small-sized dish receive unit, the minister of state for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore said.

Modernisation of Doordarshan network by utilising modern techniques and equipment is a continuous process. Schemes in this regard have been formulated and implemented from time to time. The modernisation plan covers a broad spectrum, which includes digitalisation, adoption of new technologies, upgradation and replacement of old ageing equipment, etc.

According to industry estimates, DD FreeDish has reached about 20 to 30 million homes with 80 TV channels and 32 radio channels. This information is based on the KPMG- FICCI (Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler – Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) Indian Media and Entertainment Industry Report 2016.

The minister said there was no restriction on any channel for obtaining a slot on DD FreeDish through e-auction as DD Free Dish Platform was Free-to-Air and no subscription was charged by Doordarshan from viewers.

The minister said, in the e-auction held so far by Doordarshan, no pay channel had participated. (However, it is learnt that Zee News and Big TV which are pay channels successfully bid for beaming free to air on FreeDish).

November 28, 2016
DD reaches 92 per cent of India; FreeDish 30 million homes

NEW DELHI: Doordarshan in terrestrial mode is estimated to be available to about 92 per cent population spread over 81 per cent area of the country, the Parliament has been told.

However, in satellite mode, multichannel TV coverage of Doordarshan reaches all the areas of the country through Doordarshan’s free-to-air DTH service FreeDish. It is possible to receive DTH signals anywhere in the country with the help of a small-sized dish receive unit, the minister of state for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore said.

Modernisation of Doordarshan network by utilising modern techniques and equipment is a continuous process. Schemes in this regard have been formulated and implemented from time to time. The modernisation plan covers a broad spectrum, which includes digitalisation, adoption of new technologies, upgradation and replacement of old ageing equipment, etc.

According to industry estimates, DD FreeDish has reached about 20 to 30 million homes with 80 TV channels and 32 radio channels. This information is based on the KPMG- FICCI (Klynveld Peat Marwick Goerdeler – Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry) Indian Media and Entertainment Industry Report 2016.

The minister said there was no restriction on any channel for obtaining a slot on DD FreeDish through e-auction as DD Free Dish Platform was Free-to-Air and no subscription was charged by Doordarshan from viewers.

The minister said, in the e-auction held so far by Doordarshan, no pay channel had participated. (However, it is learnt that Zee News and Big TV which are pay channels successfully bid for beaming free to air on FreeDish).

November 28, 2016
DD prime time slot winners to telecast from Feb ’17

NEW DELHI: Successful bidders in the third attempt by Doordarshan to attract producers to bid for prime time slots will have to commence telecast of their programmes in February 2017.

The last date for bids for the new content acquisition scheme by Doordarshan for its prime time is 25 November 2016, and the bids will be opened the same day. The final list of qualified bidders was announced on 9 December 2016.

Financial bids will be opened on 12 December, and the letter of award will be issued on 20 December 2016. Procedural formalities and agreement and PBG Submission will be completed on 7 February 2017.

Bidders will have to submit non-refundable tender document fee of Rs 5000 and processing fee of Rs 25000.

Earnest money deposit will be Rs 300,000 for each weekday slot. Bidders may apply for one or more slots (if applying for say three slots, the EMD will be Rs 900,000). For the weekend slots, the EMD will be Rs 6,00,000. Bidders may apply for one or more slots. However, the maximum EMD in either case will be Rs 1.5 million irrespective of any number of slots applied for.

The bidders will be responsible for the costs associated with the preparation of their bids and their participation in the bidding process.

While slotting programmes of successful bidders, DD will give due regard to ensuring a balanced content composition on the channel in respect of variety in formats, genres, themes etc.

There will be no increase in the telecast fee for a period of 12 months from the start of contract. However telecast fee will be increased by 5% of the then existing telecast fee after 12 months and in the event of any further extension after 24 months the telecast fee will be increased by 10% of the then existing telecast fee.

The production house should be an Indian entity (individual proprietorship, partnership, company, society, trust etc.) Incorporated/registered/recognised, as the case may be, under the respective applicable laws and in existence for the last 3 financial years.

The production house must have produced, for any broadcaster(s), at least 200 hours of general entertainment programming (including Feature Films) in any Indian language that has been telecast in the last three calendar years. Applicants for weekend slots in the genres of reality, game, quiz should have produced 100 hours of such content that has been telecast in the last three calendar years.

It should have in regard to TV and Film production a turnover of at least Rs. 30 million per annum in each of the last three financial years. d. The Production House should not be a defaulter in payment of dues to DD at the time of submission of the bid.

Consortium will not be allowed in any form.

A blacklisting order passed by the Central or State Governments/any PSU should not be in operation against a bidder at the time of the submission of the qualification bid.

Details of the sequence of slots On Prime Time of DD National Channel available For Bidding:

Slot Timings Sequence of slots available for Days of the week
1. 7.30 pm to 8.00 pm Monday to Friday
2. 8.00 pm to 8.30 pm Monday to Friday
3. 8.30 pm to 9.00 pm Monday to Friday
4. 9.00 pm to 9.30 pm Monday to Thursday
5. 9.30 pm to 10.00 pm Monday to Thursday
6. 10.00 pm to 10.30 pm Monday to Thursday
7. 10.30 pm to 11.00 pm Monday to Thursday
8. 7.00 pm to 8.00 pm Sunday
9. 8.00 pm to 9.00 pm Saturday & Sunday

Bids can be offered for any number of slots, but once a bidder is declared the winner of three slots from Slot 1 to 7, their bids for any other weekday slots further will not be considered. Similarly if a bidder is declared the winner of two slots (from Slot No 8 to 9), their bids for other weekend slots will not be considered.

Successful bidder(s) will produce fresh programmes under category of general entertainment programmes, adhering to the programming code and all applicable laws.

The duration of each slot is 30 minutes including free commercial time (FCT) of six minutes as per following details::

Up to 24 Minutes: Programme (produced by the successful bidder)
240 Seconds: FCT (to be marketed by successful Bidder)
120 Seconds: FCT to be retained by DD for promotion of programme or channels, for advertisements of government departments and PSUs and for public service messages.

Banking of FCT:
a) Banking will be given to producers @ 60 seconds per slot in the first six months of the contract.
b) Redemption of banking will be allowed @ 30 seconds per half hour in the same slot within a period of 12 months beyond the first 6 months.
c) Banked FCT will lapse after the expiry of 18 months counting from the first telecast.

Successful Bidders may also purchase additional spots or commercial time from DD, depending on availability, on prevailing terms and conditions. Successful Bidders would be free to procure advertisements from all sources within their entitlement of FCT with the exception of Central and State Government clients. Thus bidders will not be allowed to solicit Central and State government advertisements in their allotted commercial time or in the extra time purchased by them. Both Successful Bidders and DD shall have the right to solicit business from PSU clients.

The marketing and promotion of the programme on all platforms will be done by the bidders at their own cost.

Successful Bidders will be offered cross channel promos of defined number and duration free of cost on DD Channels as decided by the Director General.

Successful Bidders will have to ensure the delivery of telecast material without commercials at least one week in advance for preview and technical clearance by Doordarshan. Doordarshan shall intimate the observations /clearance within 2 (two) working days of the submission of the telecast material in advance for preview and technical clearance. The delivery of final telecast copy in Blu Ray disk with commercials along with one copy without commercials must be made at least three days prior to the date of telecast of programme. The telecast copy must be provided with dope sheet containing all details and duration of programmes and commercials.

Successful bidders will be required to adhere to the look and feel of the channel and DD will provide necessary inputs for graphic designs and colour schemes and packaging wherever necessary. The successful bidders will be required to obtain all necessary packaging inputs before submitting its programme to avoid delay and inconvenience. DD may also ask the production House to carry graphics of upcoming programmes and super text including ‘coming up’, time check, etc.

Successful bidders will submit storyline/storyboard and all such information pertaining to the programme to be aired. Submission of pilot episodes may be sought if so required.

All programmes will be previewed by DD before telecast.

Telecast and repeat of programmes on DD Successful bidder will offer fresh programmes for telecast on assigned slot of DD National network. The programmes already telecast on any Doordarshan channel or any private channel will not be accepted.

DD shall have the right to make a repeat telecast of the programme within 24 hours of the original telecast in a non-prime time slot to be assigned by Doordarshan. The successful bidder shall be entitled to 150 seconds of FCT out of the total Commercial Time available with the repeat telecast, that it shall be entitled to market. The remaining commercial time shall be marketed by DD.

In case of emergency/extraordinary happenings including National mourning etc. if the repeat telecast is not made, the successful bidder will not be entitled to make any claim/seek compensation.

As value addition, successful bidders will be additionally allowed two slots on Regional Satellite Channel(s) for telecast of dubbed version of the programmes in respective Regional languages. Such dubbing will be done at the successful bidder’s own cost. The commercial time admissible to the successful bidder along with such slots will be the same as allowed for the first telecast on DD National.

The slots offered on DD National Network under Terrestrial Service would primarily cover the Hindi belt Markets. DD reserves the right to delink terrestrial transmitters of non-Hindi regions from DD National Network at its sole discretion.

Only the DD logo will be carried during the telecast of the programme.

Also read : DD relaxes norms for prime time slot bidders as incentive

November 23, 2016
DD prime time slot winners to telecast from Feb ’17

NEW DELHI: Successful bidders in the third attempt by Doordarshan to attract producers to bid for prime time slots will have to commence telecast of their programmes in February 2017.

The last date for bids for the new content acquisition scheme by Doordarshan for its prime time is 25 November 2016, and the bids will be opened the same day. The final list of qualified bidders was announced on 9 December 2016.

Financial bids will be opened on 12 December, and the letter of award will be issued on 20 December 2016. Procedural formalities and agreement and PBG Submission will be completed on 7 February 2017.

Bidders will have to submit non-refundable tender document fee of Rs 5000 and processing fee of Rs 25000.

Earnest money deposit will be Rs 300,000 for each weekday slot. Bidders may apply for one or more slots (if applying for say three slots, the EMD will be Rs 900,000). For the weekend slots, the EMD will be Rs 6,00,000. Bidders may apply for one or more slots. However, the maximum EMD in either case will be Rs 1.5 million irrespective of any number of slots applied for.

The bidders will be responsible for the costs associated with the preparation of their bids and their participation in the bidding process.

While slotting programmes of successful bidders, DD will give due regard to ensuring a balanced content composition on the channel in respect of variety in formats, genres, themes etc.

There will be no increase in the telecast fee for a period of 12 months from the start of contract. However telecast fee will be increased by 5% of the then existing telecast fee after 12 months and in the event of any further extension after 24 months the telecast fee will be increased by 10% of the then existing telecast fee.

The production house should be an Indian entity (individual proprietorship, partnership, company, society, trust etc.) Incorporated/registered/recognised, as the case may be, under the respective applicable laws and in existence for the last 3 financial years.

The production house must have produced, for any broadcaster(s), at least 200 hours of general entertainment programming (including Feature Films) in any Indian language that has been telecast in the last three calendar years. Applicants for weekend slots in the genres of reality, game, quiz should have produced 100 hours of such content that has been telecast in the last three calendar years.

It should have in regard to TV and Film production a turnover of at least Rs. 30 million per annum in each of the last three financial years. d. The Production House should not be a defaulter in payment of dues to DD at the time of submission of the bid.

Consortium will not be allowed in any form.

A blacklisting order passed by the Central or State Governments/any PSU should not be in operation against a bidder at the time of the submission of the qualification bid.

Details of the sequence of slots On Prime Time of DD National Channel available For Bidding:

Slot Timings Sequence of slots available for Days of the week
1. 7.30 pm to 8.00 pm Monday to Friday
2. 8.00 pm to 8.30 pm Monday to Friday
3. 8.30 pm to 9.00 pm Monday to Friday
4. 9.00 pm to 9.30 pm Monday to Thursday
5. 9.30 pm to 10.00 pm Monday to Thursday
6. 10.00 pm to 10.30 pm Monday to Thursday
7. 10.30 pm to 11.00 pm Monday to Thursday
8. 7.00 pm to 8.00 pm Sunday
9. 8.00 pm to 9.00 pm Saturday & Sunday

Bids can be offered for any number of slots, but once a bidder is declared the winner of three slots from Slot 1 to 7, their bids for any other weekday slots further will not be considered. Similarly if a bidder is declared the winner of two slots (from Slot No 8 to 9), their bids for other weekend slots will not be considered.

Successful bidder(s) will produce fresh programmes under category of general entertainment programmes, adhering to the programming code and all applicable laws.

The duration of each slot is 30 minutes including free commercial time (FCT) of six minutes as per following details::

Up to 24 Minutes: Programme (produced by the successful bidder)
240 Seconds: FCT (to be marketed by successful Bidder)
120 Seconds: FCT to be retained by DD for promotion of programme or channels, for advertisements of government departments and PSUs and for public service messages.

Banking of FCT:
a) Banking will be given to producers @ 60 seconds per slot in the first six months of the contract.
b) Redemption of banking will be allowed @ 30 seconds per half hour in the same slot within a period of 12 months beyond the first 6 months.
c) Banked FCT will lapse after the expiry of 18 months counting from the first telecast.

Successful Bidders may also purchase additional spots or commercial time from DD, depending on availability, on prevailing terms and conditions. Successful Bidders would be free to procure advertisements from all sources within their entitlement of FCT with the exception of Central and State Government clients. Thus bidders will not be allowed to solicit Central and State government advertisements in their allotted commercial time or in the extra time purchased by them. Both Successful Bidders and DD shall have the right to solicit business from PSU clients.

The marketing and promotion of the programme on all platforms will be done by the bidders at their own cost.

Successful Bidders will be offered cross channel promos of defined number and duration free of cost on DD Channels as decided by the Director General.

Successful Bidders will have to ensure the delivery of telecast material without commercials at least one week in advance for preview and technical clearance by Doordarshan. Doordarshan shall intimate the observations /clearance within 2 (two) working days of the submission of the telecast material in advance for preview and technical clearance. The delivery of final telecast copy in Blu Ray disk with commercials along with one copy without commercials must be made at least three days prior to the date of telecast of programme. The telecast copy must be provided with dope sheet containing all details and duration of programmes and commercials.

Successful bidders will be required to adhere to the look and feel of the channel and DD will provide necessary inputs for graphic designs and colour schemes and packaging wherever necessary. The successful bidders will be required to obtain all necessary packaging inputs before submitting its programme to avoid delay and inconvenience. DD may also ask the production House to carry graphics of upcoming programmes and super text including ‘coming up’, time check, etc.

Successful bidders will submit storyline/storyboard and all such information pertaining to the programme to be aired. Submission of pilot episodes may be sought if so required.

All programmes will be previewed by DD before telecast.

Telecast and repeat of programmes on DD Successful bidder will offer fresh programmes for telecast on assigned slot of DD National network. The programmes already telecast on any Doordarshan channel or any private channel will not be accepted.

DD shall have the right to make a repeat telecast of the programme within 24 hours of the original telecast in a non-prime time slot to be assigned by Doordarshan. The successful bidder shall be entitled to 150 seconds of FCT out of the total Commercial Time available with the repeat telecast, that it shall be entitled to market. The remaining commercial time shall be marketed by DD.

In case of emergency/extraordinary happenings including National mourning etc. if the repeat telecast is not made, the successful bidder will not be entitled to make any claim/seek compensation.

As value addition, successful bidders will be additionally allowed two slots on Regional Satellite Channel(s) for telecast of dubbed version of the programmes in respective Regional languages. Such dubbing will be done at the successful bidder’s own cost. The commercial time admissible to the successful bidder along with such slots will be the same as allowed for the first telecast on DD National.

The slots offered on DD National Network under Terrestrial Service would primarily cover the Hindi belt Markets. DD reserves the right to delink terrestrial transmitters of non-Hindi regions from DD National Network at its sole discretion.

Only the DD logo will be carried during the telecast of the programme.

Also read : DD relaxes norms for prime time slot bidders as incentive

November 23, 2016
Digital India: IITians to coach students via free DTH

MUMBAI: It is not just for entertainment. It’s for education too. Professors from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) will be giving coaching classes to engineering aspirants through four DTH channels from January 1, taking the concept of Digital India to another level and reducing the dependency on coaching institutes.

These channels will be available free of cost through Doordarshan’s FreeDish DTH platform, and the aspirants will only have to secure a Set-Top Box to watch these channels, PTI has reported.

IIT-PAL (Professor Assisted Learning) initiative will reduce dependence on coaching centres and also reach out to the students who are living in rural areas and cannot afford to pay the fee for expensive crash courses.

IIT Delhi Director V Ramgopal Rao said that a team of 40 professors from various IITs had compiled 200-hour lectures for each subject covering the entire syllabus of Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). There were several coaching institutes claiming to be providing easy tricks to crack the exam and not every aspirant could afford to join them, he added.

He added that the faculty members would be joined by teachers from various Kendriya Vidyalyas in imparting these lessons to the aspirants and the focus will be more on concepts.

November 5, 2016
Digital India: IITians to coach students via free DTH

MUMBAI: It is not just for entertainment. It’s for education too. Professors from the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) will be giving coaching classes to engineering aspirants through four DTH channels from January 1, taking the concept of Digital India to another level and reducing the dependency on coaching institutes.

These channels will be available free of cost through Doordarshan’s FreeDish DTH platform, and the aspirants will only have to secure a Set-Top Box to watch these channels, PTI has reported.

IIT-PAL (Professor Assisted Learning) initiative will reduce dependence on coaching centres and also reach out to the students who are living in rural areas and cannot afford to pay the fee for expensive crash courses.

IIT Delhi Director V Ramgopal Rao said that a team of 40 professors from various IITs had compiled 200-hour lectures for each subject covering the entire syllabus of Joint Entrance Examination (JEE). There were several coaching institutes claiming to be providing easy tricks to crack the exam and not every aspirant could afford to join them, he added.

He added that the faculty members would be joined by teachers from various Kendriya Vidyalyas in imparting these lessons to the aspirants and the focus will be more on concepts.

November 5, 2016
DD relaxes norms for prime time slot bidders as incentive

NEW DELHI: In a third attempt to attract producers to bid for prime time slots, Doordarshan has announced a series of concessions once the programmers come on board, including lowering base price for a 30-minute slot to Rs. 150,000.

DD sources told indiantelevision.com that the only eligibility criterion that has been relaxed is that the basic price for auction has come down to Rs 150,000 (Rs 1.5 lakh) for a 30-minute slot. It was Rs 250,000 when the auction was announced in June this year, and was then decreased to Rs 200,000 when the new date was set for the second auction in early September 2016.

The details of the criteria for bidders likely to be made public sometime later today and the prospective bidders can apply by 22 November 2016. Most of the other eligibility norms remain the same as earlier in the New Content Acquisition Scheme that has been approved by Prasar Bharati Board.

Producers/production houses that have produced at least 200 hours of general entertainment programming, including feature film productions in any Indian language in the last three years, and have a turnover of minimum Rs. 30 million per annum in the field of TV and film production in the last three financial years are eligible to apply.

Applicants for weekend slots in the genres of reality, game and quiz are required to have produced 100 hours of such content in the last three years. However, DD sources told indiantelevision.com that certain changes had been made for successful bidders to promote their programmes.

Successful bidders will now also be allowed to approach and obtain advertisements from public service undertaking for their programmes on Doordarshan, which was not permitted earlier. Doordarshan has also laid down a compulsory number of promotional commercials, which will be free, on various channels of Doordarshan network.

In addition, successful bidders will be allowed to ‘bank’ their free commercial time. That is, in case a successful bidder has not exhausted the number of promotional commercials (totalling 240 seconds) permitted before the telecast of a particular programme, the balance can be used as and when the programme picks up in popularity.

The exit option has also been relaxed: in case a producer decides to opt out of the scheme, he will need to give only 45 days notice instead of three months. The lock-in period for this has also been reduced from one year to six months.

ALSO READ:

Suresh Panda may be Prasar Bharati interim CEO; liberal DD auction criteria recommended

E-auction for DD National Prime Time slots set for next month

November 1, 2016
DD relaxes norms for prime time slot bidders as incentive

NEW DELHI: In a third attempt to attract producers to bid for prime time slots, Doordarshan has announced a series of concessions once the programmers come on board, including lowering base price for a 30-minute slot to Rs. 150,000.

DD sources told indiantelevision.com that the only eligibility criterion that has been relaxed is that the basic price for auction has come down to Rs 150,000 (Rs 1.5 lakh) for a 30-minute slot. It was Rs 250,000 when the auction was announced in June this year, and was then decreased to Rs 200,000 when the new date was set for the second auction in early September 2016.

The details of the criteria for bidders likely to be made public sometime later today and the prospective bidders can apply by 22 November 2016. Most of the other eligibility norms remain the same as earlier in the New Content Acquisition Scheme that has been approved by Prasar Bharati Board.

Producers/production houses that have produced at least 200 hours of general entertainment programming, including feature film productions in any Indian language in the last three years, and have a turnover of minimum Rs. 30 million per annum in the field of TV and film production in the last three financial years are eligible to apply.

Applicants for weekend slots in the genres of reality, game and quiz are required to have produced 100 hours of such content in the last three years. However, DD sources told indiantelevision.com that certain changes had been made for successful bidders to promote their programmes.

Successful bidders will now also be allowed to approach and obtain advertisements from public service undertaking for their programmes on Doordarshan, which was not permitted earlier. Doordarshan has also laid down a compulsory number of promotional commercials, which will be free, on various channels of Doordarshan network.

In addition, successful bidders will be allowed to ‘bank’ their free commercial time. That is, in case a successful bidder has not exhausted the number of promotional commercials (totalling 240 seconds) permitted before the telecast of a particular programme, the balance can be used as and when the programme picks up in popularity.

The exit option has also been relaxed: in case a producer decides to opt out of the scheme, he will need to give only 45 days notice instead of three months. The lock-in period for this has also been reduced from one year to six months.

ALSO READ:

Suresh Panda may be Prasar Bharati interim CEO; liberal DD auction criteria recommended

E-auction for DD National Prime Time slots set for next month

November 1, 2016