IN Media Watch Briefs | 2018-08-16
Doordarshan News did not adhere to Prasar Bharati's existing police guidelines of not covering political party functions live on August 15 this year, reportsThe Print. It telecast live BJP president Amit Shah's efforts to unfurl the national flag at the BJP headquarters. Unfortunately for Mr Shah DD only succeeded in telecasting..
IN Media Watch Briefs | 2018-07-20
Doordarshan interviewed two BJP ministers in the afternoon about what they thought of Rahul Gandhi's speech during the no-trust motion, and why BJP MPs had felt the need to come outside Parliament and attack him. Ministers of state Ashwini Chaubey and Ram Kirpal Yadav answered at considerable length and were..
Sports broadcasters irked at latest ministry fiat
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |02/05/2018
On April 25 the ministry of information and broadcasting made it mandatory for private sector sports channels to display a ticker during the live broadcast of “national interest” events that the game can also be viewed on Doordarshan. These broadcasters who are already made to share the feed of such events with..
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |16/04/2018
The Print reports that I and B minister Smriti Irani used a new programme series on All India Radio to launch an attack on the Opposition for the washed out session of Parliament. With the 2019 polls in view, this programme called ‘Jan Seva Samvad’ which will be broadcast over the entire AIR network,..
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |28/03/2018
This is hilarious, even by Doordarshan's goofy standards. The Hindu reports that DD used the Australian government's MyGov website logo instead of the Indian one when it broadcast PM Modi's Mann ki Baat programme on Sunday. The paper quotes an official saying, “It was hardly there for 45 seconds, no..
Prasar Bharati Chairman clarifies
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |06/03/2018
Prasar Bharati Chairman A Surya Prakash has said that the Hoot's assertion that the Chairman of Prasar Bharati, a Part-time Member of the Prasar Bharati Board a was made a full-time Member by a notification of the Government without amending the Act as such, is "incorrect, misleading and malafide." The letter..
Prasar Bharati’s autonomy: Is it only about Smriti Irani?
BY SEVANTI NINAN| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |05/03/2018
Journalists chasing a story seldom step back to look at the bigger picture. What price administrative autonomy when there is no political autonomy?
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |21/11/2017
All India Radio, unsurprisingly, is a tireless promoter of the PM's Mann ki Baat. At this year's India International Trade Fair AIR has a stall on the theme of MKB, which is a big tourist draw, we are told by DD News. People are queuing up at the stall to drop their..
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |28/10/2017
The public broadcaster has been guilty of recording and telecasting a live concert of Shubha Mudgal without permission and the furious singer has written to DD, copy to I and B Minister Smriti Irani. This was four days ago, no news yet as to what the minister had to say. She was..
AIR committee meets after 34 years
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |28/09/2017
An advisory committee of All India Radio met after nearly 34 years earlier this week to discuss the revival plans of its external broadcast division, PTI reports. The last meeting of the'Standing Advisory Committee on External Broadcast' was apparently held in 1983, and the committee has been "revived and..
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |08/12/2016
Mann Ki Baat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's monthly address to the nation on All India Radio, brought the public broadcaster gross revenue to the tune of Rs 4.78 crore from advertisements during 2015-16. Quoting the minister for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore, a Hindustan Times report said that only the broadcast on All..
Justice delayed, but not denied
BY CHINTAMANI RAO| IN MEDIA BUSINESS |28/08/2017
Last week the Supreme Court upheld a Delhi High Court verdict barring Doordarshan from sharing with cable operators the live feed of cricket matches for which private broadcasters had the exclusive rights.
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |23/08/2017
An impressive battery of lawyers lined up by Rupert Murdoch’s Star India have succeeded in securing for the broadcaster an SC ruling which ensures that Prasar Bharati will no longer be able to air the mandatory sharing of sports feed on cable TV networks and pay DTH platforms. Star India..
Prasar Bharati CEO given charge of RSTV
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |12/08/2017
The CEO of Rajya Sabha TV has resigned and has been asked to hand over charge of RSTV to the CEO of Prasar Bharati. This is unprecedented. A channel functioning from the house of elders in parliament will now be administered by a body which while being autonomous in theory..
A short, anecdotal history of DD-AIR censorship
BY SEVANTI NINAN| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |17/08/2017
Sometimes brave, usually timid, the nervous broadcaster’s saga of what to carry or not carry, spans decades and several governments.
Modi Sarkar and the public broadcaster
BY SEVANTI NINAN| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |26/05/2017
How this government jettisoned fanciful notions of autonomy, and converted a failed broadcaster into a winning platform.
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |24/02/2017
In all the swirling coverage over the attacks on students and journalists at Ramjas college, those speaking in defence of the Sangh Parivar found an island of calm opportunity on Doordarshan News. On Feb 23 night its Aamne Samne programme was devoted to Professor Rakesh Sinha denouncing the kind of student politics..
AIR News: Tra la la…tra la la…
BY BHARAT DOGRA| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |26/12/2016
Its early morning news bulletins are one long riff on the government’s wondrous work. Hard news? No thank you.
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |08/12/2016
Mann Ki Baat, Prime Minister Narendra Modi's monthly address to the nation on All India Radio, brought the public broadcaster gross revenue to the tune of Rs 4.78 crore from advertisements during 2015-16. Quoting the minister for information and broadcasting Rajyavardhan Rathore, a Hindustan Times report said that only the broadcast on All..
Mann Ki Baat: Modi’s pet platform
BY SHUMA RAHA| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |01/12/2016
An ingenious and influential communication tool, Mann Ki Baat continues to be a great favourite of Narendra Modi’s. In two years, 446 million Indians have heard him chat to them.
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |29/11/2016
Doordarshan journalist Satyendra Murli says he has been facing death threats ever since he claimed that the Prime Minister’s Nov 8 demonetisation speech was pre-recorded and not telecast live, reports Catch News. Murli said at a press conference on Nov 24 that he had audio and video evidence to support his allegation...
AIR: The Master’s Voice during the cash crisis
BY BHARAT DOGRA| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |21/11/2016
In its coverage of the currency crisis, All India Radio lavished praise on the government, ignoring opposing views and minimizing the hardships of ordinary people.
BY SEVANTI NINAN| IN MEDIA BUSINESS |08/10/2016
The director of BBC Radio resigns, concerned over the impact of technology on journalism. The Prasar Bharati CEO resigns, amid concerns about decisions which impact revenue.
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |29/09/2016
Why does the public broadcaster always cede ground to private channels even when the source of news is the government? While other channels responded to the surgical strike in the early hours of Thursday by getting a variety of spokespersons and analysts on air, by dispatching a reporter to the..
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |28/08/2016
Doordarshan is trying hard to win brownie points with the PM. It has joined the govt’s propaganda war over Balochistan. Yesterday, Aug 27, it broadcast an interview with rebel Baloch leader Nawab Brahumdagh Khan Bugti in Geneva, a first for the channel which usually sends a team abroad only if..
Should AIR do propaganda or Jan ki Baat?
BY SHUBHRANSHU CHOUDHARY| IN COMMUNITY MEDIA |18/07/2016
AIR is to increase tribal language broadcasts in districts affected by Left wing extremism. But is this purely to counter Naxalism or to genuinely connect with tribal India...
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |13/08/2015
The public broadcaster should not carry news which criticises the government? Even when it is by a state chief minister? When did that become the norm? ET reports that officials of the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting pulled up the director general of All India Radio for carrying a report on the..
DD during the Emergency and other media tales
BY SUBIR BHAUMIK| IN BOOKS |26/06/2016
'Candid Canvas' is rich in original documentation such as DD memos from an Engineering chief asking colleagues to destroy all material shot and used during the Emergency.
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |09/03/2016
On March 8 this year Doordarshan pulled in their celebrated women anchors of yesteryear to return to the studio. Ghazala Amin, Rini Simon, Usha Alberqurque and others participated in a 6.30 pm discussion to mark International Women's Day that had great nostalgia value.
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |29/02/2016
The finance minister answered questions from the public on Doordarshan. The interlocutor was adman Piyush Pandey, and the public was on Twitter, as Pandey read out questions for Arun Jaitley to answer...
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |21/07/2015
According to Amitabh Bachchan he took no money for his endorsement of DD Kisan, and entered into no contract for it but Prasar Bharati has coughed up Rs 6.21 crore to Lintas nevertheless. A bit odd. And Lintas tells the Hindu which had broken the story, that it welcomes Bachchan’s..
Poverty and public broadcasting
BY SEVANTI NNAN| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |06/07/2015
If it cannot meet the information needs of the most deprived sections of the population, Prasar Bharati should not be in business,
Information low income viewers do not get
IN BOOKS |06/07/2015
While entertainment choice is wide, information content is inadequate on both public and private television.
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |26/06/2015?
Doordarshan’s non-stop glorification of the role those currently in power played during the Emergency has interesting omissions. One is its own role as the government’s handmaiden in rolling out the 20 point programme and the five point programme. The other is that of former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and the..
Media legacies, the Emergency and beyond
BY sevanti ninan| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |21/06/2015
This sort of centralized bullying is hard to comprehend today because there is so much more media.
BY Padmaja Shaw| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |03/06/2015
The BJP's misuse of the media has echoes of Indira Gandhi's Emergency. Yet when out of power, the party is in campaign mode for the autonomy for Prasar Bharati.
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |27/02/2015
IN REGIONAL MEDIA |06/02/2015
Not only do these officials block job opportunities for educated unemployed youth, they also violate the service rules that prohibit a government employee from taking a"casual" second job..
Public Service Broadcasting and the digital switchover
IN RESEARCH STUDIES |01/09/2014
Has digitization changed television viewing in the country?Why have people migrated to digital signals? What are their programming needs
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |24/12/2014
On December 24, the official Twitter account of Doordarshan News posted a picture of PM Modi in discussion with senior BJP colleagues. The accompanying text, though, read: “JINGLE ALL THE WAY !!!...A man dressed as Santa Claus feeds monkeys ahead of #Christmas at a zoo in #China”. DD was quick..
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |29/10/2014
The Indian Express reports that the three-member committee which selected the new chairman of Prasar Bharati, A Surya Prakash, included the secretary of the ministry of information and broadcasting. In 2012 the current CEO of the public broadcaster was also selected by a committee which included the I & B secretary...
On culture, TV channels score zero
BY VIKRAM JOHRI| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |25/10/2014
When it comes to literary reporting, the only notable exception to the inferior climate of reportage is also the one least expected: Doordarshan.
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |03/10/2014
The I and B minister Prakash Javadekar says disingeniously that Doordarshan carried a one hour telecast of an RSS function for the first time not because of any government diktat but simply because it is feeling more free than before. He said "earlier there may be restrictions that this should not be shown. We have not put any restrictions. So they are covering all news worthy events." (DNA)
Gender representation and empowerment in DD serials
BY ANUSHI AGARWAL, DEVI LEENA BOSE and SUSAN KOSHY| IN RESEARCH STUDIES |19/09/2014
The current study attempts to analyze the fiction content of the public service broadcaster using the canvas of gender representation and development.
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |19/09/2014
Former DD news anchor Ajai Shukla tweeted that a Doordarshan news anchor has been sacked after she read"Xi Jinping" as "Eleven Jinping" on the late night news! The Hoot has now confirmed this with DD top brass...
PrasarBharati: Programme, demand mismatch
BY SevantiNinan| IN RESEARCH STUDIES |17/09/2014
The challenge of public broadcasting - I: There is technological and programming mismatch between viewers' needs and Doordarshan's output,
Public broadcasting in Kalahandi and Kandhamal
BY DEPARTMENT OF SOCIOLOGY, UTKAL UNIVERSITY, ODISHA| IN RESEARCH STUDIES |16/09/2014
The study was conducted in two phases to assess the viewer's perception and and the impact of public broadcasting on disadvantaged groups.
BY The Hoot| IN BOOKS |01/09/2014
What is monetarily beneficial for broadcasters is less so for viewers who earn very little, some of them reported cutting back on food and savings to meet the increased costs of watching television post digitisation.
Video: When the dish knocked down the antenna
IN RESEARCH STUDIES |04/09/2014
The DTH revolution is sweeping India's villages and the public broadcaster Doordarshan is losing its rural audience to commercial DTH players.
What does Doordarshan telecast?
IN RESEARCH STUDIES |01/09/2014
A one-month content mapping of five DD channels shows a consistent pattern in the programing priorities of the broadcaster. Entertainment predominates because Doordarshan is forced to earn its own revenues.
BY The Hoot| IN BOOKS |01/09/2014
What is monetarily beneficial for broadcasters is less so for viewers who earn very little, some of them reported cutting back on food and savings to meet the increased costs of watching television post-digitisation.
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |14/08/2014
That age plays a major role in employability is an unofficial truth but All India Radio is all set to make it official. It decided to drop 100 radio jockeys in Kolkata because they were on the wrong side of 30! The All India Radio Broadcasters’ Welfare Association, Kolkata (AIRBAWAK) and..
How digitisation impacts farm telecasts
BY sevanti ninan| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |23/07/2014
Kisan shows are put out on terrestrial transmitters when many villages have switched to cable or DTH.
BY sevanti ninan| IN OPINION |29/05/2014
If practical utility for low income families is one aspect of public broadcasting, quality programming is another. Being responsive to audience needs does not require more autonomy,
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |16/05/2014
The Indian Express reported in a page one anchor on May 16 the details of how the I and B ministry put DD, AIR and all other media under it to work to ensure a Congress re-election. With the party headed for its lowest tally ever, we know now for..
BY sevanti ninan| IN OPINION |06/02/2014
When a new government comes in this summer it will have to sooner or later decide how much good money it wants to continue wasting on Prasar Bharati,
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |04/07/2014
On July 4 afternoon all the news channels were chasing the Iraq nurses' release story, some via a correspondent in Iraq. But Doordarshan was chasing the prime minister in Kashmir as he inaugurated a rail link. More constructive, doubtless...
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |02/07/2014
The Doordashan DG's term is over and contenders for his job include four IAS officers, an income tax commissioner, a professor, a scientist and a charge sheeted DD correspondent. And a bunch of internal candidates who are senior DD bureaucrats. Is a new government alive to the power of..
Biting the bullet on Prasar Bharati
BY sevanti ninan| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |26/01/2014
The Pitroda Committee report identifies clearly the outstanding blocks to Prasar Bharati's autonomous functioning and sets out the drastic changes required.
Prasar Bharati at the crossroads
BY JAWAHAR SIRCAR| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |20/08/2013
The Prasar Bharati Act gives a lot of operational autonomy but Sections 32 or 33 of the Act take away most of these by insisting of the prior approval of Government on all critical issues. And funding for technology suffers from grossly inadequate..
BY sevanti ninan| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |29/07/2013
Behind the launch is a tale of sorry programming, disappearing salience in the transmission landscape, and total invisibility in the country's most populous states.
The digitization that nobody is pushing
BY sevanti ninan| IN OPINION |30/05/2013
The most powerful broadcasting system available today is digital terrestrial.
In memoriam: Jai's untold stories
BY Jai Chandiram|IN MEDIA PRACTICE|11/05/2013
Jai Chandiram who passed away this morning after battling cancer, was one of the pioneers of television in India. She also trained many of today's professionals.
IN OPINION |28/02/2013
What if a New York consultancy were to be entrusted with a makeover of the public broadcaster?
BY Monazir Alam and Indira Akoijam| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |21/12/2012
The Congress bought more than three times the advertising time on the public broadcaster than the BJP did. It did not help.
BY sevanti ninan| IN OPINION |20/09/2012
The core of the problem with Prasar Bharati is that employees are prioritized over the institution, and the institution is prioritized over the objective for which it was created.
BY Padmaja Shaw| IN LAW AND POLICY |06/01/2012
In Prasar Bharati, while the engineering division has overwhelming numbers and power, the creative staff have taken the back seat.
IN MEDIA PRACTICE |20/02/2012
If the past few years have shown how highly spectrum is valued, does the terrestrial spectrum that Doordarshan and All India Radio have a complete monopoly over not require better stewardship and more accountability?
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |09/10/2010
Prasar Bharati is thrilled with the money making opportunities the Commonwealth Games are presenting. It is planning to quickly roll out DVDs of the opening and closing ceremonies and has promptly hiked its ad rates for the closing ceremony. The current ad bookings for this event exceed 80 minutes already...
BY sevanti ninan| IN LAW AND POLICY |20/09/2010
So what will the UPA government do next in this sticky case of an overly autonomous CEO? Will his writ continue to run? Will some in the highest echelons of this government continue to protect him?
Not so easy?IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |17/09/2010
The Ministry of Information and Broadcasting may have recommended the removal of the CEO of Prasar Bharati and sent the file to the PM. But the PMO, seen in many circles as the source of B S Lalli’s strength, is not obliging yet. The Hoot learns that the file has..
BY Jai Chandiram| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |15/04/2010
For nine years, Andhra Pradesh has been running five education channels under the name MANA TV.
The Sad Story of Prasar Bharati
IN MEDIA PRACTICE |02/07/2010
PB needs restructuring. But it must first be rescued from the limbo in which finds itself or from euthanasia.
Untold stories of the Doordarshan years
BY Jai Chandiram| IN OPINION |14/09/2009
The DD years have been exhilarating and fun, we dared, we fought, we often won. Innovation was a necessity for achieving dreams and impossible realities.
Govt. ignores Prasar Bharati irregularities, targets man who exposed them
BY Indian Express| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |02/03/2009
On election eve, the Ministry of Information and Broadcasting guns for an official who was trying to nail financial wrong doing in Prasar Bharati, under CEO BS Lalli’s watch.
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |25/10/2008
Doordarshan has come up with the bright idea of putting cable operators and its families in the audiences for their reality shows. The folks at Prasar Bharati thinking this will be an effective bribe in getting operators to put their channels on the prime band, since they cannot match the.. ?
Doordarshan’s golden rules of Ol-u-mpics coverage
BY hoot| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |17/08/2008
Phelps at the pool? Then DD will be at the handball prelims. You can bet a gold on that.
Olympian losses, but the babus had a ball
BY hoot| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |13/10/2008
If you cringed at Doordarshan’s Olympics coverage, now take a look at what it cost and who benefited.
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |16/08/2008
With Doordarshan’s special genius for doing things, the network missed showing the prime minister hoisting the flag at the Red Fort, because at that point they were busy showing a recording of him at Raj Ghat. But its Olympics (sorry, Olumpics) coverage is what has taken the cake. Even as..
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |14/08/2008
Prasar Bharati says the private news channels have no business helping themselves to footage of the Olympics. It has written to all of them reminding them that DD Sports holds the rights. Apparently while it is mandatory for private channels with cricket rights to share their telecasts with Prasar Bharati,..
Keep this alternative alive and healthy
BY Padmaja Shaw| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |28/06/2008
If anyone wants a model for socially responsible, public interest broadcasting as an alternative to the commercial cacophony that satellites pour into our homes, the Lok Sabha channel would fit the bill.
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |03/06/2008
Following the appointment of new people to the posts of Chairman Prasar Bharati, and DG Doordarshan in the last couple of months, the secretary in the ministry of information and broadcasting has now been transferred back to her home state. Just a coincidence, or more of the election year syndrome..
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |03/05/2008
First the UPA government changed rules to remove Prasar Bharati Chairman M V Kamath from office. Now it has broken established tradition by making this too a post for a retired IAS officer. Previous chairmen have been journalists. Arun Bhatnagar, Sonia Gandhi’s man for the wound-up National Advisory Council, is..
BY Sajan Venniyoor| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |29/06/2006
The Public Service Broadcaster has never had a woman Director General in its 80 years of existence. Perhaps it is time for a change.
Prasar Bharati and the broadcasting bill
BY Thakore| IN OPINION |26/08/2006
Akashvani Bangalore turns fifty
BY bs chandraskhar| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |08/11/2005
The Bangalore station was inaugurated on November 2, 1955 and in the 50 years since then there have been six distinct stages in the evolution of its programming.
BY rina mukherji| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |20/06/2005
A radio programme for tsunami victims tries to motivate people to pick themselves up by the bootstraps, overcome their anxieties and pain, and take life head-on.
DD, AIR asked to cut down social broadcasts
BY Deepshikha Ghosh| IN MEDIA PRACTICE |26/04/2005
India`s state-run television and radio have been told to cut down on social causes and make money.
Supreme Court pulls up Prasar Bharati
IN LAW AND POLICY |04/04/2005
The Supreme Court Thursday pulled up Prasar Bharati for not implementing the Prasar Bharati Act by not giving an opportunity to its employees to exercise their option to remain with the government or the corporation.
Prasar Bharati CEO unveils ambitious global plans
IN MEDIA PRACTICE |16/02/2005
Prasar Bharati is doing a global tender for the worldwide distribution of Doordarshan television and All India Radio (AIR) channels.
IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |19/06/2004
The CBI arrested the director of the Lucknow Doordarshan Kendra when he was allegedly accepting a bribe from a serial maker, reports the Times of India on June 19.
Prasar Bharati: assault on autonomy
BY verghese| IN MEDIA FREEDOM |26/08/2003
The dismissal of the director general of Doordarshan was arbitrary and mala fide and inconsistent with the letter and spirit of the Prasar Bharati Act.
BY ninan| IN MEDIA WATCH BRIEFS |20/03/2003
On the day the war on Iraq began Doordarshan scrapped its regular evening news bulletin, believe it or not, and showed cricket. The news was shifted to DD Metro. A World Cup semi-final fetches loads of advertising. News does not. Public service television
All India Radio---75 years of wasted opportunity
IN COMMUNITY MEDIA |02/11/2002
Between its early hijacking by government and its imminent hijacking by commercial interests can we still create a relevant public space on Indian radio?
Doordarshan Viewership Survey In Punjab
IN BOOKS |30/03/2002
Doordarshan claims its satellite channel is the most watched in Punjab.
