Doordarshan Targets Global Audience As Government Approves Rs 619.48 Crore Funding For Major Overhaul

Doordarshan network, including the DD News channel, is set for a significant overhaul in 2019 as the government in January approved funding to the tune of Rs 619.48 crore to be utilised over a three-year period, reports Mint.

These funds for the DD network are part of the larger allocation of Rs 1,054 crore made for Prasar Bharati which is India's largest public broadcasting agency. It is a statutory autonomous body that owns both the Doordarshan network and All India India (AIR).

In the third week of January 2019, DD India became the most watched English TV news channel in the country, beating privately owned channels like Republic TV and Times Now. Broadcast Audience Research Council (BARC) data showed that DD India posted 1.5 million impressions in the Republic Day week, double that of Republic TV’s impressions at 0.72 million.

“Until now, DD News, which is our primary news channel, was bilingual but reported by BARC in the Hindi genre only. As a result, its English viewership was never being measured in the right way.

Last year, the Prasar Bharati board took a decision to develop DD India as our international channel also since India is the only country where the public broadcaster does not have one," said Shashi Shekhar Vempati, CEO, Prasar Bharati using examples like UK’s BBC and Russia’s RT.

India’s Global Voice

Vempati noted that Doordarshan wants to build the platform as India’s voice globally, to put forth an Indian perspective on both domestic as well as international events. “Since we’re talking of a world audience, the focus will be on strategic issues, foreign policy, defence and geopolitics, which we are not able to do currently because of the sheer domestic coverage,” he added.

Also Read: How Janam TV Is Making Waves In Malayalam Television News Space