ITV

Tag: Doordarshan

  • Against all odds, Prasar Bharati continues to swim upstream : Brigadier V A M Hussain Member (Personnel) Prasar Bharati

    Against all odds, Prasar Bharati continues to swim upstream : Brigadier V A M Hussain Member (Personnel) Prasar Bharati

    An institution that has been the chronicler and mirror of India‘s history is feeling crippled. With a tenacious CEO under a dynamic Minister of Information & Broadcasting, it is striving to reinvent itself to meet the challenges of contemporary media scenario. Many new experiments are on to change the behemoth called Prasar Bharati that cost the exchequer a whopping Rs 150 crore every month. This public service media organisation is one of the oldest statutory bodies with a hoary past. It is under siege and calls for expeditious intervention to revive the glory of the old faithful that is All India Radio. Doordarshan, the audio-visual arm of Prasar Bharati is always in the public eye with viewers asking for more sumptuous and scintillating fare.

    The Organisation is saddled with a disgruntled work force of about 50,000 who did not get a promotion for decades. To make matters worse, there was no attempt to infuse new blood in the system, either. An out-of-the-box solution is inescapable to break shackles of archaic regulation. The definition of autonomy needs to be revisited to meet the upheavals on the audio- visual landscape, in recent years. Section 33 of the Prasar Bharati Act directs prior government approval for all regulations governing conditions of service. Every employee appointed before October 2007 is considered a government servant on deemed deputation and their promotion is in government ambit. Instead of being a nimble, vibrant media organisation driven by merit, seniority and ‘babudom’ rule the roost. Proposal for a Prasar Bharati Recruitment Board as mandated by the Act of Parliament vide Sections 9 and 10 of The Prasar Bharati Act 1990 is gathering dust in files while government persisted in stalling promotions and new recruitments for two decades now. In effect, Prasar Bharati is like a ship caught in the turbulent waters in the mid sea with none to care on the shore for the SOS of the ship-wrecked crew. Merit and flexible structures are essential for a dynamic and extremely competitive media sector. Meeting the content needs of 750 million people through regional and national infra structure and boosting DTH and terrestrial audience are complex challenges, CEO Jawhar Sircar faces, along with ‘Sarkar‘, the real power.

    A recent experiment showed how independence in Prasar Bharati can make an impact. A truly independent team with young professionals in DD News prime time has rattled the industry with ratings showing an upswing.
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    A recent experiment showed how independence in Prasar Bharati can make an impact. A truly independent team with young professionals in DD News prime time has rattled the industry with ratings showing an upswing. Doordarshan launched a big advertising campaign for the revamped time bands of DD News, DD National and DD Urdu. This was the first such campaign in decades. A little more attention and circumspection are needed at AIR too which got maligned unfortunately by recent media reports of alleged harassment of its women Radio Jockeys. It is staring at a PIL now. FM Gold channel, with practically no permanent staff, earns substantial revenue for the entire AIR network while private FM channels are yearning for popularity with smart young professionals even in small towns and villages. The recently appointed Sam Pitroda Committee has set itself tasks suggesting visible changes for reviving Prasar Bharati. There is a wealth of data and content in archives that can propel AIR to the top of the charts. The expert groups are offering many practical suggestions and initiatives on many fronts including technology, content management, financial independence, government relations and human resources. Dr. Pitroda believes that generational change can be brought about by radical thinking instead of mere cosmetic changes.

    The financial situation continues to be precarious for Prasar Bharati with complex legacies. An unprepared bureaucracy opted for accrual system of accounting and enforced income tax while loans in perpetuity and penal interests soared.The government rescued Prasar Bharati by writing off large sums due as segment hiring and space spectrum charges incurred in the course of broadcasting mandated content, non commercial in nature. Income tax claims stand withdrawn while local bodies continue levying the public broadcaster with huge taxes on property of Union of India but Prasar Bharati has just been permitted use of the government emblem. This is a paradox since 50,000 salaried employees of government are using these assets for functions statutorily assigned by an Act of Parliament. Welcome initiatives of the GOM relieved Prasar Bharati from its financial crystal maze for now by converting loans in perpetuity as grants.

    The need of the hour is to professionalise Prasar Bharati with content-driven channels and professional-driven management owing total allegiance to Prasar Bharati to meaningfully accomplish objectives that were originally dreamt and scripted by the authors of an autonomous public service broadcaster. The dream is worth realising.
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    Apprehensions often raised on the need for a government-funded national public broadcaster are ill-founded. We need an unbiased institution to bench mark initiatives on information, education and entertainment. At the same time, the government needs a media window to show case its policies, initiatives and views by running its own video and audio channels. Government staffing of DD News and AIR News Service Division through Indian Information Service is controlled by the Ministry. The easiest course would be to sever the current nebulous association with Prasar Bharati and declare them government channels on the lines of Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha TVs and leave Prasar Bharati to professionalise with autonomy.

    The efforts of the government to empower through The Sports Broadcasting Signals (Mandatory Sharing with Prasar Bharati) Act 2007 get breached frequently. Private business houses that own broadcasting rights of World Cricket tours use pre-embedded feeds of commercials and cause losses in hundreds of crore to Doordarshan. Expeditious amendments would help Prasar Bharati and the government. Despite its huge work force, Prasar Bharati has inadequate structure of professionals managing its own security, assets, property, content, new media, revenue and marketing at the highest levels. The need of the hour is to professionalise Prasar Bharati with content-driven channels and professional-driven management owing total allegiance to Prasar Bharati to meaningfully accomplish objectives that were originally dreamt and scripted by the authors of an autonomous public service broadcaster. The dream is worth realising.

    Will the Committee of Sam Pitroda be able to persuade the government to truly empower Prasar Bharati? On thoughts like this, we often remember Baba Amte’s saying “Faith is the promise of tomorrow” while the swimming upstream by Prasar Bharati continues.

  • Renowned Pakistani comic-duo Irfan Malik and Ali Hassan to act in Indian series on Doordarshan

    Renowned Pakistani comic-duo Irfan Malik and Ali Hassan to act in Indian series on Doordarshan

    NEW DELHI: Exulting over the revamping of the prime time programming of Doordarshan’s national channel which had resulted in rich harvest, DD director general Tripurari Sharan said a major reason for this had been the aggressive marketing that was being done.

     

    He said that cross-channel promotion within the network and social media were the new trends apart from print and banner advertisements.

     

    He was speaking on the sidelines of a press meet to announce the participation of two renowned Pakistani stand-up comedians Irfan Malik and Ali Hassan as actors in the series ‘Yeh Zindagi Hai Gulshan’ directed by well-known filmmaker Suhail Ilyasi and co-produced by him and Mushtaq Bala, an award-winning filmmaker. The series also stars veterans like Pankaj Dheer, Raza Murad, and Zarina Wahab.

     

    However, he admitted that there were some inhibitions within Doordarshan about cross-channel promotion in private channels as some of them were rival channels. He also added that cost benefit analysis was also necessary to decide the most relevant channel for advertising DD programmes.

     

    He said that a major change had also been made by introducing programmes that appealed to all age groups including the young, with programmes like ‘Yeh hai India meri Jaan’ and ‘Yeh Zindagi hai gulshan’ which had social messages as well. He said even a programme like ‘Byomkesh Bakshi’ starring Rajit Kapur which had been made about two decades earlier had shown high ratings during prime time.

     

    Doordarshan had also experimented with simulcast with other private channels with programmes like ‘Satyamev Jayate’, ‘Coke Studio’, and the on-going ‘Saraswati Chandra’.

     

    Ilyasi described the participation of the two comedians in the series as a new beginning in Indo-Pak relations, and said this was the first time the two were coming as actors in any series. Until now, they have only been taking part in reality shows.

    Hassan said that the Indian series ‘Yeh Zindagi hai Gulshan’ was very popular in Pakistan, and also said that Doordarshan was seen by a large number of people in his country.

     

    He revealed that he and Malik had been working independently as stand-up comedians in Pakistan, and it was only when they were invited to India in ‘Laughter Challenge’ that they teamed up as a duo. He said that they owed this new avatar to India as it had proved very successful.

     

    He said artistes spread friendship. Asked about their role in the series, he said he enacts the role of the hero’s father while Malik playes the role of his wife’s sister.

     

    Malik said in answer to a question that it was wrong to say that Indian artistes were not allowed to take part in Pakistan television channels. He said that singers like Alka Yagnik, Sonu Nigam, Naseeruddin Shah and Shabana Azmi had taken part in reality shows on channels like ‘Hum’ and ‘Ary’. However, people in India did not know this as India does not allow Pakistani channels to be beamed here.

     

    The series, aired on Doordarshan every Saturday and Sunday at 8.30 pm, is a love story of a progressive Muslim girl. The serial is a first of its kind Muslim social television serial.

     

    The concept of the serial ‘Yeh Zindagi Hai Gulshan’ is based on ‘Shariah’ which has given equal rights to women to pursue their development. The serial has a powerful story to promote education among girls and self awareness of their rights.

  • DD’s Q1 revenues see spike thanks to new primetime programming

    NEW DELHI: With new initiatives that have helped to add spice to the national prime time telecasts, Doordarshan managed to push up its gross quarterly revenue from just over Rs 322.4 million in the last quarter of 2012 to above Rs 503.4 million in the first quarter of 2013.

    The monthly revenue for this time slot shot up from just Rs 9.21 million in October last year to more than Rs 197.1 million in March this year.

    Doordarshan additional director general Raj Shekhar Vyas told Indiantelevision.com that this had been achieved by adding variety to the programmes and not necessarily getting stuck to the same series from Monday to Friday as most private television channels tend to do.

    He said DD was set to break new ground with the telecast of Hollywood blockbusters in English from midnight onwards daily from mid-May. He said negotiations were on with the American studio Lionsgate Films. It was expected that the films would initially be offered without any payment. This slot was until now reserved either for old films or repeat telecasts, he said.

    However, on account of a decline in national mid-day prime time slots between noon and 3.00 pm, the quarterly revenue went down from Rs 177.9 million in the last quarter to just about Rs 156.7 million.

    Asked about this, Vyas said he was currently concentrating on re-vamping the evening prime time but would also overhaul the mid-day prime time since around 240 proposals had been received for various programmes.

    Following an initiative by Prasar Bharati chief executive officer Jawhar Sircar, DD had for the first time decided to go in for out-of-home publicity and also advertised in newspapers, Facebook and Twitter about its new programmes. An initial sum of Rs 20 million had been set aside since Republic Day this year for this. Advertising in cinema houses will form the second phase of the advertising binge.

    Vyas claimed that following directions from DD director general Tripurari Sharan, he had given the national prime time a youthful look with programmes like ‘Bharat ki shaan‘, ‘Yahan ke hum Sikandar,‘ ‘Ek Kiran Roshni ki‘ and ‘Yeh hai India Meri Jaan‘ by the renowned Saeed Akhtar Mirza remembered for the path-breaking ‘Nukkad‘ series. The channel also had its share of interpretation of classics like ‘Krishna Kali‘, ‘Gora‘ and ‘Sarsaswati Chandra‘, apart from old favourites like ‘Byomkesh Bakshi‘ and ‘Ek tha Rusty.‘

  • Doordarshan should run a kids channel

    Doordarshan should run a kids channel

    MUMBAI: Like its counterparts in UK and Australia, why doesn‘t India boast of a channel targeted at kids? That was the theme of a panel discussion at Ficci Frames 2013.

    Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar, who was expected to take part in the panel discussion, was conspicuous by his absence. The session that was supposed to discuss and deliberate upon the importance of a public kids‘ broadcaster went without government representation.

    The panelists comprised CFSI chairman Amol Gupte, Graphiti Multimedia chairman Ram Mohan, and International Advertising Association-India Chapter (IAA-IC) Secretary at Monica Tata. Graphiti Multimedia COO Munjal Shroff was moderator of the session.

    Tata, who was earlier with Turner International and was managing kids channels Cartoon Network and Pogo, said it was imperative for the government to enter the kids broadcasting space as part of its larger social responsibility.

    According to Tata, Doordarshan, the television arm of Prasar Bharati, with its huge reach through terestrial cable will go a long way in reaching kids who don‘t have access to quality content.

    Graphiti Multimedia chairman Ram Mohan, also known as father of Indian animation, felt a public-private partnership would go a long way in making this initiative a success.

    He also felt that a public-owned kids broadcaster would also give a fillip to Indian animation industry besides serving the larger social good – that of helping kids to develop life skills.

    The panelists agreed that the first step was to convince the government to launch such a channel. The content of the channel can be decided later.

    Tata believes that the channel should have content that is educating but also entertaining at the same time.

    CFSI chairman Amol Gupte feels that the time has come for the government to put its foot down and get working on the channel.

    Children, he noted, are exposed to all sorts of crass content that is having a negative impact on them. A DD kids channel would go a long way in plugging that need gap.

    Bennett Coleman and Company Limited (BCCL) Director AP Parigi feels the government should provide the highway to create centres of excellence in kids‘ broadcasting.

    He also reckoned that the government should have a incubation period of at least five years for the channel before it becomes viable. The curriculum of government-run schools should have synergy with the kids channel.

    While saying that the public kids channel should be a viable option, Tata felt that viability is a subjective term when it comes to a public enterprise.

    Graphiti‘s Munjal Shroff pointed out that the Ficci Media & Entertainment committee has been lobbying for the last four years with the Prasar Bharati to launch a kids channel without much success.

    Shroff also revealed that Sircar has promised to look into the issue. The plan, he further revealed, was to have a dedicated slot on DD which would later be spun-off into a full-fledged channel.

    The panelists urged the small gathering to take the issue up with the government to get them to fast-track the process of launching a children-centric channel.

    Gupte said, "We need advocacy groups to tell the government that this kind of a channel is the need of the hour as part of its larger social responsibility."

    The panelists also felt that a Sesame Street kind of an initiative to give children from under-privileged background a platform to learn skills should be replicated in India. Sesame Street is a long-running American children‘s television series. In India it airs on Cartoon Network as well as on DD.

  • DD to launch English news channel by July

    DD to launch English news channel by July

    NEW DELHI: Doordarshan hopes to launch a separate English news channel by July this year by splitting the present bilingual English-Hindi news channel.

     

    DD News Director General S M Khan told indiantelevisiom.com he was confident of achieving the target of July for creating two news channels – English and Hindi – from the existing DD News channel.

     

    He said the public broadcaster had conducted a survey which showed that viewers favoured separate channels for the two languages.

        
    He was also confident that both the news channels — DD Samachar and DD News — will continue to get adequate advertisement support.

     

    Khan said the two channels would pool news and work in unison. Some new programmes were also being planned as there would be more time available on both the news channels.

     

    DD Director General Tripurari Sharan said that discussions and news will be presented in one-hour format for both Hindi and English news.

     

    Attempts have also been made to make use of appropriate technology to upgrade the standard of presentation, Sharan said.

  • 43rd IFFI goes live on social media with dedicated link on YouTube

    43rd IFFI goes live on social media with dedicated link on YouTube

    PANAJI: Even as the national television network Doordarshan aired live the grandeur of the opening ceremony of the Festival on 20 November, the Information and Broadcasting Ministry came out with a new initiative by streaming live the entire programme for about three hours on YouTube.

    While the Ministry had gone on YouTube just over two months earlier, it has attempted to bring to life the IFFI through its link http://www.youtube.com/user/INBMINISTRY/videos where it is also placing short promotional of various films of the festival, and will also carry interviews of important dignitaries.

    The objective of launching the channel was to reach out to the young population of the country, sensitizing them about the Government’s policies and programmes. At the same time, the channel has provided a window to disseminate information on key issues and events regularly in an effective manner.

    Since its launch, the channel has successfully incorporated a bouquet of programmes on the platform catering to different cross sections. The uploaded programmes include Live streaming of events, news capsules of two to three minutes duration, campaign spots, short films and documentaries, classical music, inspirational speeches, etc. The response has been overwhelming. Till date the channel has received about 25000 video views and has approximately 295 subscribers.

    The channel has provided the Ministry the opportunity to integrate communication and content on a newly emerging platform. The content is regularly updated on a day to day basis through the social media cell set up for this purpose.

    The 43rd IFFI is being publicized and promoted in a big way through the channel thereby giving it a better profile on the social media network.

    Some of the Events proposed to be covered on a daily basis are: Interviews of Film Directors and Producers of National and International Fame; Tributes and Retrospectives of Indian Panorama; Master Classes for budding filmmakers; some sideline stories about Goan culture, heritage etc.; and Cultural Performances of Goa.

  • T20 World Cup initial matches notch up 2.8 TVR

    MUMBAI: The initial eight group stage matches of the ICC World Twenty20 2012 have garnered an average rating of 2.8 TVR with a reach of 60.55 million (CS 4+ TG All India), as per TAM data provided by media agencies who are tracking the mega event‘s viewership trends for their clients.

    The ratings for the first eight matches are higher than the ICC World Twenty20 2010 in West Indies which managed a TVR of 1.6 for the first four matches with a cumulative reach of 42 million.

    The India-Afghanistan match has recorded a combined TVR of 4.9 on Star Cricket, ESPN and Doordarshan with a reach of 36.7 million. Comparably, the India versus Afghanistan in the previous edition of the tournament had got a rating of 4.

    The India versus Afghanistan match got a rating of 3.5 on Star Cricket, 0.4 on ESPN and 1.1 on Doordarshan. The sports broadcaster is also simulcasting India matches, semi-finals and the final on ESPN with Hindi commentary.

    The South Africa-Zimbabwe match was the second best rated match despite featuring a relatively weaker team. The match posted a TVR of 3.5 with a reach of 26.5 million.

    The match between Sri Lanka and Zimbabwe rated 1.2 TVR, slightly better than the South Africa-Sri Lanka as well as the Australia-West Indies matches. The two matches registered a TVR of 1.1 and 0.9 TVR respectively.

    While South Africa-Sri Lanka match had a reach of 16.1 million, the Australia-West Indies match could manage a reach of only 9.1 million.

    Media agencies say the group stage matches hold relatively less significance for advertisers; the key to the commercial value of the property is how the Quarter Final and the Semi Final matches deliver.

    DDB Mudra Group COO Pratap Bose expects the Super Eight matches to do well as the tournament is perfectly poised.
    “The initial eight matches are not of much significance as the important matches will begin from the Super Eight stage. There will be a spike in ratings if India remains in the fray,” said Bose.

    GroupM Maxus Client Leader Jigar Rambhia shares the same sentiments. He feels the real tournament even for advertisers begins with the Super Eight stage when all the strong teams will compete against each other.

    “It‘s too early to talk about ratings at this stage since the group stage mainly involves matches with weaker sides and there is only one India match. However, the interest in the tournament will start peaking with the Super Eight stage,” says Rambhia.

    ESPN Star Sports has sold out its entire inventory for the ICC T20 WC with as many as 34 advertisers on board including three joint presenting sponsors and seven associate sponsors.

    Channel Match Date TVR Reach 000‘s
    Star Cricket Sri Lanka v Zimbabwe 18 Sep 1.2 18020
    Star Cricket Australia v Ireland 19 Sep 0.6 9280
    Star Cricket+ESPN+DD1 India v Afghanistan 19 Sep 4.9 36728
    Star Cricket South Africa v Zimbabwe 20 Sep 3.5 26529
    Star Cricket Bangladesh v NewZealand 21 Sep 0.7 15009
    Star Cricket England v Afghanistan 21 Sep 0.6 8204
    Star Cricket Sri Lanka v SouthAfrica 22 Sep 1.1 16159
    Star Cricket Australia v West Indies 22 Sep 0.9 9152
      2.8 60553
    ICC T20 WC2012
    		  
    Channel: ESS+DD1
    TG: CS 4+, All India
     

  • Prasar Bharati to move CCI against TAM

    NEW DELHI: Prasar Bharati, which had been asked by the Information and Broadcasting Ministry to consider action against TAM, is expected to file a petition before the Competition Commission of India within the next few days.

    Doordarshan Director General Tripurari Sharan told indiantelevision.com that the final draft was prepared yesterday and it would now be cleared by legal counsel before filing.

    Earlier, Prasar Bharati chief executive officer Jawhar Sircar had told indiantelevision.com that it was astonishing that TAM had been side-stepping Doordarshan, which has the largest reach terrestrially through local cable operators and around 20 per cent of the market through various DTH platforms.

    The Prasar Bharati Board had taken up the matter in its meeting on 6 August and given the go-ahead to DD to proceed with the matter.

    The Ministry had written a letter to TAM and its international partner Nielsen earlier, wanting to know the steps taken to improve the television rating measurement system and ordering for a third party audit to be conducted with an increased sample size. The Ministry has asked them to respond within 15 days on allegations of viewership manipulation.

    The Ministry had also written to the Telecom Regulatory Authority of India for suggestions on an accreditation mechanism for TV ratings in India to curb the monopoly and asked it to frame guidelines in context to cross holdings in companies that are involved in TV ratings system in India.

    Trai had on 19 August 2008 issued Recommendations on the Policy Guidelines and Operational issues for Television Audience Measurement Television Rating Points (TRPs) suggesting Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC), a suggestion which was later endorsed by the Amit Mitra Committee.

    The action by Prasar Bharati comes close on the heels of the case filed by NDTV in a New York court against TAM, Nielsen, Kantar and WPP.
     

  • Doordarshan to independently handle Coke Studio marketing

    NEW DELHI: The public broadcaster will handle the marketing of Coke Studio, which launched today on Doordarshan at 8.30 pm band, even as Coca Cola will pay for its branding.

    Doordarshan is going to air the eight-episodic second season of Coke Studio from 8.30 pm every Saturday, while MTV is airing the same episodes at 7-8 pm band.

    Doordarshan director-general Tripurari Sharan said that there is no arrangement of any sharing of revenues from the marketing of the series. He said the aim of the telecast on the national broadcaster is to make it accessible to a larger audience, particularly those who do not have access to private satellite channels since DD is the only channel available terrestrially.

    Coca Cola VP public affairs and communications – India and Southeast Asia Deepak Jolly told Indiantelevision.com that Coke Studio had commenced in Brazil and later come to Pakistan before MTV started an Indian series. He said that in Pakistan, Coke Studio is being telecast by thirty channels. The series was also being telecast in Dubai.

    Answering a question, he said that the first season of Coke Studio had only one producer while the second season has twelve producers.

    Meanwhile, All India Radio sources told Indiantelevision.com that Coke Studio was also expected to be broadcast on AIR, but details had still to be worked out about the channels and the timing.

    A total of eight episodes will be telecast, with 12 producers and 200 artistes in an attempt to focus on showcasing diversity and innovation.

    As a concept, Coke Studio is a confluence of a diverse number of music genres, both vocal and instrumental, from traditional eastern, to modern western and from regional to folk. It embodies a musical fusion of exciting elements and diverse influences. Bringing alive the magic of live recordings and performances.

    The attempt is to bring alive a magical experience for music lovers by dwelling on pure Innovation to offer a musical concoction never heard before.

    Some of the music composers being featured are: Amit Trivedi, Nitin Sawhney, Karsh Kale, Clinton Cerejo, Shantanu Moitra, Ehsaan and Loy, and Hitesh Sonik.

    Renowned and independent singers who will feature in the show include Usha Uthup, Kaushiki Chakrabarty, Swanand Kirkire, Harshadeep Kaur, Noora Sisters, Shilpa Rao, Jalebee Cartel, Nitin Sawhney, Hari and Sukhmani, Papon, Dhruv Sangari, La Pongal, Agam, Saawan Khan Mangniyar, Mame Khan, Piyush Mishra and Shankar Tucker.

  • Piyush Jha to be felicitated at Global Meet 2012 of Pravasi Bihari

    Piyush Jha to be felicitated at Global Meet 2012 of Pravasi Bihari

    MUMBAI: Noted film director Piyush sJha, famous for making movies on ‘Badland Bihar’ ,will be felicitated in Global Meet 2012 of Pravasi Bihari, which will be held in the state’s capital city from 17-19 February.

    Besides participating in a panel discussion of Doordarshan, the filmmaker is also expected to announce his upcoming movie, which will be a political action thriller.

    Global Meet 2012 of Pravasi Biharis is expected to provide a forum to facilitate communication and interaction between non-resident Biharis (NRB’s) and the state of Bihar.

    Other notables from the film industry who are expected to attend are Shatrughan Sinha, Shekhar Suman, and Manoj Bajpai among others.