Credibility and clean image are the vital assets of any news channel and are basic ingredients for any organization to penetrate deep into the hearts of viewers, Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal said.
The Chief Minister was addressing viewers of a cultural evening organized by Doordarshan Kendra, Shimla to commemorate 'Golden Jubilee Celebrations of Doordarshan in India' at Peterhof here last evening.
Mr Dhumal congratulated Doordarshan for successfully completing 50 years of its service to the nation by maintaining credibility and airing decent programmes. He said that various channels of Doordarshan had access to every home in the country and is a strong medium of communication.
Mr Dhumal said that the two day long 'Regional Rajbhasha Sammelan' organized by Doordarshan would go a long way in popularizing Hindi, which was the most common and effective mode of communication amongst the people from all walks of life.
The Chief Minister said that Shimla had witnessed numerous historical events from Indo-Pak Summit, Pre-Independence Pacts, Macmohan Line Agreement to many other historic conferences and pacts, which were signed between Indian and British leaders during pre-Independence era.
Mr Dhumal wished Doordarshan to scale greater heights in future years so that its credibility was maintained for all the times to come. (courtesy:-friendsofprasarbharathy.org)
Amritsar Vikas Manch has demanded the telecast of different channels of Doordarshan including DD Punjabi in USA, Canada and other foreign countries.
In a letter to Prime Minister Dr. Manmohan Singh , Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni, Manch patron Dr. Charanjit Singh Gumtala stated that large number of Indians are now settled in U.S.A., U.K., Canada, Australia and other countries.Indian channels other than Doordarshan like Zee TV, Star TV, Aaj Tak, Sahara, Alpha Punjabi, PTC Punjabi etc are being telecaste in these countries.
Punjabis are also settled in large number in these countries and private Indian Punjabi channels are being telecast in these countries. So DD Punjabi along with other regional channels should also be made available in these countries.
Doordarshan can earn a large amount of money on advertisements etc. Copy of the letter has been sent to Dr. Manohar Singh Gill Minister of Sports and Youth welfare and Navjot Singh Sidhu, Member Parliament and Tarlochan Singh MP. (courtesy:-friendsofprasarbharathy.org)
BJP leader writes to PM over state of affairs in Prasar Bharti
Senior BJP leader Prabhat Jha has written to prime minister Manmohan Singh seeking his intervention to improve the state of affairs in public broadcaster Prasar Bharati which has been mired in internal squabbles between its board members and the CEO.
In a letter written on November 3, Prabhat Jha has urged the PM to "set up a Parliamentary committee to monitor and regulate the quality of Prasar Bharati so that its performance may be improved and it again becomes popular in every household".
He requested Singh to "consider the matter urgently and take required steps in instituting a Parliamentary committee for the purpose".
Jha said the reason Doordarshan is failing to compete with other channels is "because a large number of vacancies (around 17,400) are waiting to be filled and Prasar Bharati, an autonomous body, cannot make appointments under the pretext of some government 'ban' on appointments".
Terming it as "ridiculous", he said "as per Prasar Bharati Act, the public broadcaster is entitled to make appointments but what is stopping it remains puzzling".
Hoping that Singh will intervene in the matter, Jha said, "I request you to take personal interest and see that a Parliamentary committee is in place to improve the quality of Doordarshan to make it competitive. I also hope that you will take immediate steps in filling 17,400 vacancies in Prasar Bharati. (From friends of prasarbharathi.org)"
The government appears set to strip the existing Prasar Bharati Board of its powers, the apex body formed 17 years ago to provide autonomy to the state-run All India Radio and Doordarshan, now mired in corruption and controversies.
The Law ministry has given a go ahead to Information and Broadcasting ministry to take legal recourse to suspend the existing board and put in place a government official in-charge of the board, HT has learnt.
Earlier, also the government had appointed Additional Secretary in the ministry as Chief Executive Officer of the Prasar Bharati during the period new CEOs were being selected.
However, senior I&B ministry officials said the decision on whether an Ordinance or a amendment to the Prasar Bharati Act to dissolve the present board would be taken after October 25, when the global broadcasting union is supposed to clear the plan for Commonwealth Games coverage.
The government’s worry is whether the present Prasar Bharti board would be able to provide world class coverage of the 2010 Commonwealth Games, given its sorry plight is understood to have triggered the drastic move.
The Board, which gets around Rs 1,500 crore (Rs 15 billion) every year from the Information and Broadcasting Ministry, has been virtually defunct since eight months, plagued by severe infighting among its top officials.
On directions from the Prime Minister’s office, the I&B Ministry had sought an opinion from the Law Ministry “on available options” to stem the rot, since the Prasar Bharti Act does not allow any direct intervention in its affairs.
A report in this regard has already been submitted to the Prime Minister’s Office, I&B minister Ambika Soni said, last week. She, however, refused to elaborate on the contents of the report.
In its opinion, the Law Ministry is learnt to have stated that the government “is empowered to take away the powers of a Board in case it finds that the Board has failed to function.”
“The government has no option other than to amend the Act by which the Prasar Bharti Corporation was constituted, given its miserable plight,” said a senior Law Ministry official, on the condition of anonymity. “Once the powers are taken away, the Board is assumed to be dissolved and the government can go in for a fresh body. It can happen by an ordinance or taking the matter directly to parliament,” the official said.
The Central Vigilance Commission was looking into seven cases of financial irregularities related to Prasar Bharti, refered to it by the I&B Ministry on directions of the Delhi High Court.
HINDUSTAN TIMES,SUN.18TH OCTOBER 2009
Public broadcaster Doordarshan (DD) not only commands the highest channel share compared to private networks, but also attracts a far greater number of viewers, according to TAM Media Research, which recently made a presentation to this effect before the Information and Broadcasting Minister Ambika Soni.
The TAM numbers have managed to establish the supremacy of DD over competing news channels like Aaj Tak and India TV and also entertainment channels like Star Plus, Colors and Zee TV in the year 2009. DD is the country's largest TV broadcaster with a penetration of 107 million households; while the number of households with cable & satellite TV are about 85 million, in comparison. Instead of using the Weekly data, the TAM presentation was backed by statistics and data for 31 weeks, from January 2009 till the beginning of August. Therefore, while private channels are ranked according to weekly fluctuations in ratings, DD was established as a top channel using the average ratings for these 31 weeks.
Taking this average data for 31 weeks in the 85 million cable homes, TAM shows DD1 was leading in the 8-8:30 pm time band with a channel share of 20 per cent and ahead of Aaj Tak (18 per cent) and India TV (14 per cent). For private news channels, the prime time news bands are 8 pm to 9 pm, and 9 pm to 10 pm.
Channel share simply means a channel-wise percentage allocation from a universe of 100 viewers, who watched various news channels in a particular time band during a week. While DD has a 24-hour DD news channel, TAM did not use this channel to compare it with private TV news broadcasters. Instead, it has compared the news during peak time with DD1
To establish the supremacy of a musical talent show on DD1 called 'Jalsa', TAM data have compared its ratings on July 12, aired between 10:30 to 11 pm, with ratings of general entertainment shows aired on private channels between 8:30 pm and 11 pm on Zee TV, Colors, Star Plus and others. Comparing the performance of the same movies on DD1 with those aired on Colors, Star Plus, Zee Cinema, Sony and UTV Movies, among others, TAM data for Hindi-speaking markets show higher ratings than those aired on private channels. The DDI rating for, say, Jab We Met, was 3.5 TRP, compared an average rating of only 1 in Colors, which had shown the movie nine times.
The research shows that movies like Jab We Met, Bhool Bhulaiyan and Kabhi Alvida Na Kehna got four-five times higher television ratings on DD1 compared to the private channels. However, this was because all these blockbusters were aired only once on DD1 (between January 1 to August 8), as compared to up to nine times on private channels. Comparing sports events like the two cricket ODI series in January-February 2009 that were simulcast on both DD1 and Neo Cricket, TAM data show that both coverage's attracted a similar number of viewers. While DD1 had an all-India reach of 68 million viewers, Neo Cricket had a reach of 70 million for the same series. However, DD and its two-dozen channels do not attract more than Rs 500 crore in advertising revenue in a year compared to nearly Rs 4,500 crore generated on private channels, including the news channels, movie channels and the general entertainment channels.
Fast moving consumer goods (FMCG) companies have more screen presence than car makers and telecom companies on all DD channels, though the latter two are pushing hard for rural sales. The top ten advertisers on all the 50 DD channels are FMCG companies. The TAM data shows that Hindustan Unilever (HUL), the country's biggest advertiser, leads the pack as the top private advertiser on DD with a 9 per cent share. HUL is followed by ITC with a 2 per cent share. Other top advertisers include Wipro, Emami, Dabur, Colgate-Palmolive, Heinz, Perfetti Van Melle, Godrej Consumer Products and Reckitt Benckiser. Telecom is the second most advertised category with media buyers saying that it is bound to find more space on DD. While FMCGs buy more volume of advertising, telecom companies buy more high-value deals at a premium.
While FMCGs consume more inventory since they buy airtime across the day, telecom companies buy air-time mostly during evening prime time. That's because FMCG advertising is aimed more at women who would watch TV through the day while telecom companies target the male audience who would typically tune in during the evenings. Companies and media buyers, however, said that DD is a medium no marketer with a rural focus can afford to ignore. Godrej Consumer Products' price warrior soap brand, Godrej No 1, crossed Rs 500 crore in value sales in June '09. Over the past 18-20 months, Godrej No 1 has focused its ad spends only on DD, highlighting the brand's affordability plank.
The Kolkata-based Rs 750-crore FMCG company Emami Ltd, which makes Boroplus, Himani Fast Relief and Fair & Handsome cream said its portfolio appeals to consumers who watch only DD, where cable TV does not reach. Typically, Emami spends about 70 per cent of its budgets on satellite channels and the remaining 30 per cent on DD. It is learnt that FMCG is the highest-penetrated category in rural markets, so DD naturally figures in their media plans. Rates on DD are about 50 per cent less than that of private channels, so even if companies buy more air-time on the channel, they spend lesser in comparison.
(NEWS FROM friendsofprasarbharathi.org)
