ITV

Tag: Doordarshan

  • DD launches another show to strengthen its afternoon slot

    DD launches another show to strengthen its afternoon slot

    NEW DELHI: Pubcaster Doordarshan is going all out to strengthen its content offering to its viewers. And in keeping with that, the channel will launch a new series ‘Aisa Prem Kahan’ starting 16 June. The series captures the unique story of a romance born out of the mayhem of the tsunami set against the renaissance of Bengal.

     

    The series will telecast from Monday to Friday at 1.30 pm on DD National.

     

    The over-riding element in the story comes when a storm over a waterway brings hurricane in the life of four characters: Ramesh, Kamla, Hemnalini, Shusheela and Dr Mahesh.

     

    The story shows how the four characters are hit by social and natural calamities, thereby leading to a tragedy pulling them towards inescapable circumstances hurtling towards an apocalypse.

     

    This ‘edgy-romantic’ tale weaves a complex saga of mistaken identity. It is the story of deep faith and undying love of Ramesh and Hem Nalini tested to the limit by an almost unimaginable twist of fate. Its charm lies in the lingering aftertaste of the “enduring pleasure in pain”. 

  • Autonomy of the pubcaster would be protected: Javadekar

    Autonomy of the pubcaster would be protected: Javadekar

    NEW DELHI: Addressing a press meet at the Doordarshan Kendra in Worli, Mumbai, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said the government is committed to making Doordarshan the first choice of viewers across the country and a special provision will be made in the Union Budget for a total revamp of DD.

     

    Javadekar, who was in the western metropolis to make a full appraisal of the Mumbai Kendra of Doordarshan, held discussion with officials about future plans, said: “The blue print for revamp of national and regional channels of DD is being drawn and this will involve going for staff and artist recruitment on a large scale. I&B ministry is planning to change the look and feel of the national and regional channels of DD.”  
     

    The minister was however categorical that the automomy of the pubcaster would be protected.

     

    Apart from this, the government will shortly take a decision on permitting private channels to broadcast news of All India Radio. It may also consider permitting news of Press Trust of India or United News of India.

     

    Noting that the government gives huge half page or full page advertisements but they say very little, the minister said, “We are changing the operations completely. We will change all the designs to send across the maximum information that we can and also make it creative. We will crowd-source most of the advertisements where thousands of creative people or organisations will be asked to give their ideas about how to create advertisements. Then the best will be chosen and the top ten ideas will be awarded. This process will continue while designing most of the advertising campaigns.” 

    On a question relating to paid news, he agreed it was a ‘menace’, particularly during the run-up to the elections, but he would not comment as the matter was in the Court.

     

    “Stalwarts like Lokmanya Tilak had fought for the freedom of the press and their sacrifice should not be allowed to go waste,” he added.

  • DD’s competitive game plan

    DD’s competitive game plan

    MUMBAI: “It is my dream to make Doordarshan a success story,” said Information & Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar at the recently concluded GoaFest.

     

    Indeed, what was once the only television channel and earned nearly 100 per cent revenue because of its monopoly has over the years become an ‘also-ran’, thanks to the satellite and cable TV explosion.

     

    DD recently undertook several new initiatives in a bid to reclaim its place under the sun. Just last month, the government-owned channel launched a dedicated slot for afternoon shows called ‘DD Dopahar… Aapke Ghar’ where between 12pm and 3pm, serials produced and directed by biggies from the television and film fraternity including Harry Baweja, Karan Razdan, Paintal, Sudhir Pandey and Maninee Dey are aired.

     

    Earlier this month, DD revamped its prime time evening viewing with five new shows namely Nadiyaan Gaati Hain, Bharat Ki Shaan: Let’s Dance, Earth Matters, Gaon Connection and Yatra. What’s more, in the coming months, the channel plans to re-brand itself with a view to better connect with its audiences. “Yes, we will re-brand DD National soon. It is on the cards and we are expecting it to happen by the end of the year,” confirmed Doordarshan directorate general CK Jain.

     

    The channel which holds the seventh position after general entertainment channel Sab, clocked 131 million GVTs in the week 23 of TAM TV ratings.

     

    According to Jain, it’s the right time for such a move, considering advertisers’ response has also been good. “For DD National, the advertisers’ response has been reasonably good, considering the fact that we still have the largest reach across the country. Our strength was towards terrestrial earlier. Our reach has been shrinking over a period of time. We are aware of that and we are trying our best to ensure that the viewership increases in C&S markets also. We are trying to enhance our viewership in these markets by upgrading the content,” he said. “We are trying to upgrade our prime time now with fresh content, but of course, we can’t compare ourselves with the big players.”

     

    An industry source opined that unlike GECs like Star Plus and Zee which are able to pump in huge monies on content, DD cannot afford to do so. “This is slightly a disadvantage of being a government body, where you have to follow certain procedures to acquire content,” the source said, stressing that DD would not spend more than Rs 300 to Rs 400 crore on new content.

     

    “The major part of expenditure goes towards infrastructure which takes away more than half their budget. If you really talk of today, terrestrial is very costly. This worries the management as they are unable to invest more money on content which is required. The management is trying to find solutions for it.”

     

    Meanwhile, a media planner expressed the view that while re-branding would definitely help DD get more viewers on-board, it would not help the channel compete with the big players. “If they are re-branding, the channel must have good reasons to do so. It will do well for the channel, but if they wish to compete with big players in the market like Star or Zee, they should be willing to spend some money on the content to reach that level,” he concluded.

  • Javadekar condemns misuse of social media to create tensions

    Javadekar condemns misuse of social media to create tensions

    NEW DELHI: A day after airing his views on abolition of his own Ministry, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar has said the government should not exercise control over media which should have its own mechanisms for this.

    Addressing members of Indian Women Press Corps (IWPC), he also said: the biggest challenge for Prasar Bharti was how Doordarshan becomes the first choice for the viewer.

     

    “In whichever model it works, we’ll choose that. We have given autonomy but result should also come,” he said. 

    Noting that freedom of press was the result of a long struggle, the Minister also stressed upon responsibility of the media.

     

    The government is in favour of infrastructure augmentation in border areas where people get to hear the propaganda of other countries but the voice of Indian government at times does not reach. 

     

    Javadekar said while answering a question that social media fell under the Information Technology Act which was not administered by his Ministry, but added that the freedom afforded by social media should be used responsibly. He said misuse of social media to create tensions in society is condemnable and should not happen.

    At one stage, Javadekar mentioned that his father had worked in a publication and that he had been a member of the Press Council which is often called a “toothless wonder”. 

     

    Javadekar said Prime Minister Narendra Modi had encouraged his ministers to be innovative. He said one innovative practice that the I&B and Environment ministries, which are both under him, will start is regarding advertisements they issue.

     

    He said it had been decided that people would be asked to provide ideas and designs for advertisements and the Directorate of Advertising and Visual Publicity will only release them. “We will recognise and award the good designs that are selected,” he concluded. 

  • Ideologically I&B Ministry should be abolished: Javadekar

    Ideologically I&B Ministry should be abolished: Javadekar

    NEW DELHI: Virtually echoing the views of former Minister Manish Tewari, Information and Broadcasting Minister Prakash Javadekar said that he ‘philosophically’ and ‘ideologically’ favoured abolishing his Ministry.

     

    However, he justified this by noting that it was in keeping with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s emphasis of ‘less government, more governance’. 

           
    “Philosphically or ideologically, I’ll be willing to do that,” he said, when asked if India needed an I&B Ministry when many major democracies do not have such a profile.

     

    Asked whether Modi was also “philosophically and ideologically” in agreement with his line of thinking, Javadekar said: “Absolutely”, during an interview by Karan Thapar on Headline Today’s programme “Nothing but the Truth.”

     

    The Minister agreed with the suggestion for hiring professional editors for Doordarshan and All India Radio.

     

    He was also open to discussion with stakeholders on more FDI in media.

     

    “I think you are giving a good line for us. But ultimately, when our Prime Minister Narendra Modi says that more governance and less government, so you are actually contributing to the idea of less government and more governance. That’s our focus, but to achieve that end we have to follow a process,” he said.

     

    The Minister said that as far as the public broadcaster is concerned, there are various models like the BBC and others available which would be studied. Javadekar said he was not in favour of a model where the public broadcaster is accountable to the minister “only”.

     

    Javadekar said in the years ahead, words like “government-run”, “government-controlled” or “government intervention” will be less heard of.

     

    “But I would like that government becomes less and less and freedom and market forces and at the same time social justice is achieved,” Javadekar concluded. 

  • DD to telecast a rare tale of Indian compassion for Europeans during World War II

    DD to telecast a rare tale of Indian compassion for Europeans during World War II

    NEW DELHI: ‘A Little Poland in India’ a poignant story of around one thousand orphaned children from Poland who found a sanctuary in India at the height of Nazi German Dictator Hitler’s atrocities in Poland, is to be telecast by Doordarshan later this week in Hindi.

     

    The film, which was telecast in English in November last year, will now be aired in Hindi on 4 June, 9.30 am onwards on DD National.

     

    The hour-long documentary is the true and captivating story of the then Jam Saheb (Ruler) Digvijaysinhji Ranjitsinhji Jadeja of Nawanagar, nephew of famous Indian cricketer Ranjitsinhji Vibhaji of the Jadeja clan,a princely state in the Kathiawar Peninsula, off the land of Gujarat. It is the heart-warming story of an enriched historical bond between India and Poland. It is a story that represents people-to people contact in its most humane form, beyond borders and across continents.

     

    During World War II, about 1000 Polish children from war-torn, occupied Poland and Soviet prison camps in Stalin’s Siberia, travelled all the way to India, where Jam Saheb took personal risks to make arrangements at a time when the world was at war and India was struggling for its Independence. He built a camp for them in a place called Balachadi beside his summer palace, 25 km from his capital city Jamnagar, and made them feel at home.

     

    This is the first film that has been co-produced between the governments of India and Poland under the Audio-Visual agreement between both countries. The co-producers are Doordarshan and the Gujarat Government in India, and the National Audiovisual Institute and TVP (Telewizja Polska) in Poland.

     

    Directed by Anuradha and Sumit Osmand Shaw with research by Anuradha herself, the film took the help of historian Andrzej Krzysztof Kunert, secretary general of the council for the Protection of Struggle and Martyrdom Sites. The research coordinators were Kresy-Siberia Foundation and a Balachadi survivor Wieslaw Stypula.  

     

    The film contains interviews with several survivors, including two children who met in Balachadi but married 78 years later in Poland.

     

    The venture was supported by the Embassy of India in Warsaw, the Embassy of Poland in India, and the Polish Institute, New Delhi.

  • Doordarshan EPG to be carried by all DTH platforms and DD Direct Plus

    Doordarshan EPG to be carried by all DTH platforms and DD Direct Plus

    NEW DELHI: Though it was one of the first channels to go on to the direct-to-home platforms, Doordarshan has finally ensured that the private DTH operators carry its electronic programming guide.

     

    For this purpose, Doordarshan has entered into a deal with NDTV and What’s on India Media.

     

    A DD source told indiantelevision.com that NDTV will manage the EPG of all 21 DD channels and deliver it to all multi-system operators and DTH operators of the country.

     

    Servicing, aggregating EPGs of all the channels of DD Direct Plus and delivering it to DTH Direct Plus platform in compatible format will be handled by What’s on India.

     

    The source said that some of the DTH operators had already commenced the EPG guide while others will commence shortly.

     

    This move is expected to increase viewership of Doordarshan, who unlike private TV channels do not always run the same series at the same times on all days of the week. DD has some series which runs on only one or two days a week and others running daily on week days, and this often leads to confusion among viewers.

     

    The source therefore said this was bound to bring the viewer closer to the channel.

     

    EPG would provide Doordarshan viewers with continuously updated menus, displaying broadcast programming or scheduling information for current and upcoming programming.

  • Review of Prasar Bharati functioning next week: Javadekar

    Review of Prasar Bharati functioning next week: Javadekar

    NEW DELHI: New Information and Broadcasting minister Prakash Javadekar today, replied to several questions regarding the media.

     

    He said that there will be a review next week of the functioning of Prasar Bharati. Complains about the government’s interference in the autonomy of the pubcaster would also be examined, he said.

     

    Referring to the media, he said the government had no intention of curbing the freedom of the press in any way.

     

    In an interview to Doordarshan, Javadekar emphasised that there was no need for the government to impose regulation if the self-regulatory bodies set up by the media themselves work well. However, he said that a study was being made of how radio can be regulated.

     

    Asked about the non-implementation of the Wage Board for Journalists and non-journalists in the print media, he said that he would talk to all the stakeholders including the organizations of mediapersons and the owners of media houses.

     

    He added that the government did not have the power to set up Wage Boards for anyone except its own employees, but had always set up Wage Boards for the media to uphold freedom of the press. 

  • 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.

  • PM swearing in ceremony gets global reach through television and social media

    PM swearing in ceremony gets global reach through television and social media

    NEW DELHI: In a dignified function rarely seen, Indian television channels today globally beamed live the swearing in of Narendra Modi as the fifteenth Prime Minister of the country, along with his team of 44 Ministers and Ministers of State.

     

    Around 4,000 people including all the leaders of the SAARC countries and Mauritius were present in the front courtyard of Rashtrapati Bhavan where President Pranab Mukherjee swore in the Prime Minister and his team.

     

    Apart from the stars of Bollywood who have made it to the portals of Parliament House, others who were present included Anupam Kher, Dharmendra, Salman Khan with father Salim Khan, Bappie Lahiri, Suresh Oberoi and Vivek Oberoi.

     

    The winning stars seen at the ceremony included Vinod Khanna, Manoj Tiwari, Smriti Irani and Hema Malini.

     

    While all television channels were allowed to come to Rashtrapati Bhavan and were stationed at the back of the entire assembly, only Doordarshan was permitted to beam the oath taking ceremony from close quarters.  

     

    As a result, most channels beamed the ceremony by taking the feed from Doordarshan, though many had their own commentators and experts who spoke about the various persons as they were sworn in.

     

    While channels like Times Now preferred to show the commentary by Doordarshan’s Sanjeev Upadhyaya and Gaura Lal Dhawan before and after the swearing in, several other channels like NDTV 24×7 showed the visuals from DD but had its own experts speaking about each person as he/she came up to take the oath.

     

    DD, which had the live coverage on its national channel and DD News, also made arrangements for simultaneous translation into sign language for the hearing impaired. The live telecast was also beamed live on DD’s website and its channel on YouTube, President Pranab Mukherjee’s site presidentofindia.nic.in and on the Prime Minister’s website pmindia.nic.in.

     

    The telecast commenced around 40 minutes before the ceremony commenced, showing the arrival of various VIPs and leaders of different parties,  including Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. 

     

    The last time that ceremonies of this nature – though smaller magnitude – were held in the front courtyard of Rashtrapati Bhavan was in 1990 and 1998 when Chandrashekhar and Atal Behari Vajpayee were sworn in as Prime Ministers.

     

    However, this was the first  time since 1991 (when Rajiv Gandhi was cremated) that all the SAARC leaders were seen together in India.

     

    Modi, who has been tweeting throughout the campaign and even after being elected, used the opportunity to send out a message to the people and the media through the Prime Minister’s website, pmindia.nic.in.

     

    Referring to the social media and the internet, he said: “I envision this website as a very important medium of direct communication between us. I am a firm believer in the power of technology and social media to communicate with people across the world. I hope this platform creates opportunities to listen, learn and share one’s views. 

    “Through this website you will also get all the latest information about my speeches, schedules, foreign visits and lot more. I will also keep informing you about innovative initiatives undertaken by the Government of India.” 

     

    A section has been inserted on the website to greet the Prime Minister or send him a message.