Thakur
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With the NDA Government assuming office
at the Centre, seriousness is being shown
towards ensuring professionalism in the
functioning of different departments. One
welcome step that has been taken to revamp
the near-obsolete Doordarshan and All
India Radio is the proposal to launch a
channel called Kisan TV with a view to
providing real time information on various
agriculture related issues to farmers.
According to a report in The Hindu , the
national broadcasters are in line to be
improved in their functioning. Minister for
Information and Broadcasting Prakash
Javadekar had recently announced concrete
steps in this direction to help state-owned
media regain its lost glory.
Even Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, in his
Budget speech presented in the Lok Sabha
on July 10, announced that a Kisan TV for
farmers would be launched this year.
Jaitley had allocated Rs 100 crore for the
channel.
Another The Hindu report said that Prasar
Bharati Chief Executive Officer Jawahar
Sircar on Wednesday took to social media
to seek ideas on the contours and content of
Kisan TV.
The new Government’s initiative to de-
bureaucratise national broadcasters is a
step aimed at addressing the demand voiced
from different quarters since long. Till the
late 1980s, there were just two Doordarshan
channels — DD National and DD Metro
which would caterer the news and
entertainment related needs of the people
and people even today cherish the glorious
days of national broadcaster for its quality
and reach to all parts of the country.
But with the early 1990s, there started
advent of private channels which gradually
chased DD channels out from the heart of
the people. Same happened in case of AIR
and Vividh Bharti with coming of private
FM channels. This happened due to
Government’s apathy to improve the quality
of the national broadcasters and lack of
professionalism in their functioning.
Today, there are hundreds of private
channels, fulfilling the needs of viewers
while Doordarshan’s popularity has
drastically come down. Doordarshan was
set up in in 1959 and it had monopoly on
viewership for decades. Even after private
players came in 1992, Doordarshan
remained the country’s most viewed
channel but since the new millennium, its
popularity took a significant beating and
hence its revenue too sharply went down.
According to a one-and-a-half decade old
report , by the time DD significantly losing
its steam became apparent, it was plagued
by multiple problems due to which private
producers, advertisers and audience began
to desert it. The primary reason was
mismanagement. The report further says
that not even one car company advertised
on DD and even two-wheeler manufacturers
kept a low profile. Ads of Pepsi and Coca-
Cola were found only during sports
telecasts.
In 1999-2000, DD earned revenues of Rs 6.1
million as compared to Rs 3.99 million in
1998-1999. However, by the end of
2000-2001, DD’s honeymoon period was
over. In 2000-2001, DD’s revenues were
projected to grow at 6-15 per cent while
private channels projected 40-50 per cent
revenue growth.
Only FMCG companies continue to appear
on DD because of its terrestrial network
reaching the rural and semi-urban
audience. Despite a whopping 21,000
employees, DD outsourced almost half of its
programmes from the private producers.
Underutilised infrastructure, improper
investments and poor financial management
badly hit the performance of DD and it
could not stand in competition from private
satellite channels. These problems continued
to aggravate even till today which has
rendered it like just a Government’s
mouthpiece.
Another reason for the national
broadcaster’s downfall was that it, unlike
minnow private television channels, stopped
experimenting with its content. However,
DD’s British counterpart British
Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has always
been serious about maintaining its position
in terms of viewership with passing time
and has successfully continued to be a top
choice of viewers. In the financial year
2012-2013, it is a £5.102 billion enterprise.
Reflecting on the need for a complete
overhaul in DD, Jawahar Sircar, after
taking over as the chief executive of Prasar
Bharati, said, “A complete overhaul of DD’s
TV programmes, in both format and
content, will draw the viewers that
Doordarshan has lost to private satellite
channels. You bring out a good product,
spend money, put in taste, allow autonomy
and engage right professionals, you will get
the right product and if you have the right
product, you will get the right revenues.”
Autonomy is the most contrasting difference
between DD and BBC. The British
broadcaster enjoys much more freedom as
compared to its Indian counterpart despite
the fact that both are statutory bodies.
BBC’s high credibility in the eyes of viewers
is because of impartial public service. It can
be critical about Government moves while
DD is hardly ever seen criticising any
Government decisions. Doordarshan doesn’t
have an independent editorial policy like
BBC.READ MORE I&B Ministry’s initiative on Doordarshan, Kisan TV a welcome step | India News Analysis and Op-Ed Commentary | Politics | Governance | Eco...
at the Centre, seriousness is being shown
towards ensuring professionalism in the
functioning of different departments. One
welcome step that has been taken to revamp
the near-obsolete Doordarshan and All
India Radio is the proposal to launch a
channel called Kisan TV with a view to
providing real time information on various
agriculture related issues to farmers.
According to a report in The Hindu , the
national broadcasters are in line to be
improved in their functioning. Minister for
Information and Broadcasting Prakash
Javadekar had recently announced concrete
steps in this direction to help state-owned
media regain its lost glory.
Even Finance Minister Arun Jaitley, in his
Budget speech presented in the Lok Sabha
on July 10, announced that a Kisan TV for
farmers would be launched this year.
Jaitley had allocated Rs 100 crore for the
channel.
Another The Hindu report said that Prasar
Bharati Chief Executive Officer Jawahar
Sircar on Wednesday took to social media
to seek ideas on the contours and content of
Kisan TV.
The new Government’s initiative to de-
bureaucratise national broadcasters is a
step aimed at addressing the demand voiced
from different quarters since long. Till the
late 1980s, there were just two Doordarshan
channels — DD National and DD Metro
which would caterer the news and
entertainment related needs of the people
and people even today cherish the glorious
days of national broadcaster for its quality
and reach to all parts of the country.
But with the early 1990s, there started
advent of private channels which gradually
chased DD channels out from the heart of
the people. Same happened in case of AIR
and Vividh Bharti with coming of private
FM channels. This happened due to
Government’s apathy to improve the quality
of the national broadcasters and lack of
professionalism in their functioning.
Today, there are hundreds of private
channels, fulfilling the needs of viewers
while Doordarshan’s popularity has
drastically come down. Doordarshan was
set up in in 1959 and it had monopoly on
viewership for decades. Even after private
players came in 1992, Doordarshan
remained the country’s most viewed
channel but since the new millennium, its
popularity took a significant beating and
hence its revenue too sharply went down.
According to a one-and-a-half decade old
report , by the time DD significantly losing
its steam became apparent, it was plagued
by multiple problems due to which private
producers, advertisers and audience began
to desert it. The primary reason was
mismanagement. The report further says
that not even one car company advertised
on DD and even two-wheeler manufacturers
kept a low profile. Ads of Pepsi and Coca-
Cola were found only during sports
telecasts.
In 1999-2000, DD earned revenues of Rs 6.1
million as compared to Rs 3.99 million in
1998-1999. However, by the end of
2000-2001, DD’s honeymoon period was
over. In 2000-2001, DD’s revenues were
projected to grow at 6-15 per cent while
private channels projected 40-50 per cent
revenue growth.
Only FMCG companies continue to appear
on DD because of its terrestrial network
reaching the rural and semi-urban
audience. Despite a whopping 21,000
employees, DD outsourced almost half of its
programmes from the private producers.
Underutilised infrastructure, improper
investments and poor financial management
badly hit the performance of DD and it
could not stand in competition from private
satellite channels. These problems continued
to aggravate even till today which has
rendered it like just a Government’s
mouthpiece.
Another reason for the national
broadcaster’s downfall was that it, unlike
minnow private television channels, stopped
experimenting with its content. However,
DD’s British counterpart British
Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) has always
been serious about maintaining its position
in terms of viewership with passing time
and has successfully continued to be a top
choice of viewers. In the financial year
2012-2013, it is a £5.102 billion enterprise.
Reflecting on the need for a complete
overhaul in DD, Jawahar Sircar, after
taking over as the chief executive of Prasar
Bharati, said, “A complete overhaul of DD’s
TV programmes, in both format and
content, will draw the viewers that
Doordarshan has lost to private satellite
channels. You bring out a good product,
spend money, put in taste, allow autonomy
and engage right professionals, you will get
the right product and if you have the right
product, you will get the right revenues.”
Autonomy is the most contrasting difference
between DD and BBC. The British
broadcaster enjoys much more freedom as
compared to its Indian counterpart despite
the fact that both are statutory bodies.
BBC’s high credibility in the eyes of viewers
is because of impartial public service. It can
be critical about Government moves while
DD is hardly ever seen criticising any
Government decisions. Doordarshan doesn’t
have an independent editorial policy like
BBC.READ MORE I&B Ministry’s initiative on Doordarshan, Kisan TV a welcome step | India News Analysis and Op-Ed Commentary | Politics | Governance | Eco...
