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WELCOME DD DIRECT

WITH ITS NEW Direct-to-Home (DTH) service, Prasar Bharati has switched on a new and refreshingly different option for the television viewer. By keeping the offering free of monthly charges, DD Direct Plus inaugurated by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh satisfies the remit of a public broadcaster to make quality television accessible to a broad-based rather than a niche audience. DTH as a high-end technological option — with a capacity digitally to compress a large number of channels for delivery to individual subscribers — has been available in several countries for quite a while. What makes Prasar Bharati's effort significant is the win-win proposition for everyone: Doordarshan channels now reach the whole country except the Andamans, and private broadcasters who have been dependent on cable companies have the choice of an elegant platform. Despite a track record spanning a quarter century and periodic expansion plans to take it to the remotest corners, DD in the terrestrial mode is able to reach only 90 per cent of the population. The Ku-band DTH service acts as a bridge to people living in uncovered areas, where high investment to expand terrestrial television is not economically feasible.

Starting with a bouquet of 33 free-to-air television channels (including news and features from domestic and international broadcasters) and All India Radio programmes, DD Direct can expect comfortably to reach its target of two million subscribers by the end of 2005. As it grows, the platform is bound to attract several other channels, particularly those that share its public broadcasting goals. The cost of hardware to the viewer, which is pegged at a very reasonable Rs.3,000 per DTH kit, could respond to market dynamics in the coming months and settle at an affordable level. Prasar Bharati plans to monitor technical standards and sell branded receivers, a progressive move that will provide a benchmark for the consumer. The uncomplicated rollout of DTH technology contrasts happily with the messy way in which compulsory set-top boxes for the Conditional Access System were introduced in the metropolitan cities.

Doordarshan estimates that about 45 million television homes in the country do not have cable and DD Direct will be able to serve many of them; and that among the 40 million television homes with cable a good proportion can be attracted to DTH. Having stolen a march over the private DTH ventures and overcome the deliberate impairment caused to the quality of its channels by many cable operators in urban centres, Doordarshan must focus on its core mission of public service broadcasting — as opposed to propaganda for the Central Government of the day. A significant body of opinion favours an alternative funding mechanism that can unshackle DD from the compulsions of advertising and the ratings war. While opinions may differ on methods of allocating public funds, there can be no reasonable argument against insulating the national public broadcaster from the pulls and pressures of commerce. Freedom from financial and partisan political considerations combined with professional management can put Doordarshan on a sound path. It has much to learn from globally recognised public service broadcasters such as BBC and Japan's NHK. An editorial policy based on the core values of free and independent journalism and seeking to uphold the public interest will give DD an edge over garden-variety private channels that dumb down, promote kitschy fare, and brazenly slant the news. DD Direct, which incorporates the newly launched live Parliament coverage, opens up for Prasar Bharati the possibility of expanding through dedicated channels into critical areas such as health, education, agriculture, gender equality, nutrition, and science and technology. But above all, for the potential to be realised, there must be a change in mindset.

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