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Coimbatore gets modern Doordarshan Studio Centre

Staff Reporter

It is the 62nd multipurpose unit in the country

A CLOSER LOOK: Engineer-in-Chief, Doordarshan, N. S. Ganesan (extreme left) explains the functioning of the television camera to Coimbatore East MLA V. K. Lakshmanan and Coimbatore MP K. Subbarayan at the Doordarshan Studio inaugurated in Coimbatore on Monday. - Photo: M. Periasamy

COIMBATORE: Doordarshan Kendra will begin producing regional programmes in Coimbatore with the inauguration of a modern studio centre on Balasundaram Road here on Monday.

Established at a capital cost of Rs. 3.27 crores (including equipment cost of Rs. 2 crores), the 150 sq.m. studio suite stands on a one-acre campus provided free of cost by the State Government, adjacent to the television low power transmitter.

The studio has two cameras, a production switcher, an audio mixer and facilities for electronically editing material shot indoors or outdoors. Acoustically treated rooms enable the television producers to record high quality live music, dramas, interviews and feature programmes. Mobile light fixtures attached to the ceiling make it possible for the production crew to speedily adjust lighting levels.

Soundproof doors

Centrally air-conditioned and equipped with soundproof doors, the technical section of the studio will produce programmes to be up-linked from Chennai for the Podhigai Regional Channel of Doordarshan. This is the second Doordarshan Studio Centre to come up in the State, after Chennai.

The Chief Engineer, All India Radio and Doordarshan (South Zone), S. Ramaswamy, said the multipurpose centre in Coimbatore was the 62nd television studio in the country. Direct to home (DTH) television service was likely to increase the variety of programmes offered and increase the area under coverage.

The Deputy Director General (Marketing), All India Radio and Doordarshan (South Zone), N. G. Srinivasa, said the public telecasting organisation was able to project developmental activities in health, education and rural issues.

Narrowing the gap between rural and urban

The Engineer-in-Chief, Doordarshan, N. S. Ganesan, said that television was narrowing the gap between rural and urban, man and woman, rich and poor, by providing large amounts of information. High definition television, interactivity and 24-hour news were likely to make the medium more valuable in the years to come.

Offering felicitations, the Coimbatore East MLA, V. K. Lakshmanan, said that he hoped the new studio would produce programmes meant to inspire people rather than merely entertain. Youngsters would become more patriotic if Doordarshan telecasted interviews with freedom fighters on the sacrifices made during the Independence struggle.

Trendsetter in telecasting

Pothigai channel should be a trendsetter in telecasting and should not get sidetracked by commercial considerations. Programmes on job opportunities, local history and research being done in universities were sure to be popular.

`Maintain objectivity'

The Singanallur MLA, K. C. Karunakaran, wanted the public broadcaster to maintain objectivity in reporting the news.

The Coimbatore West MLA, S. Maheswari, said that Doordarshan had come as a welcome relief from the succession of soap operas on commercial channels that depicted women characters always in tears.

In his inaugural address, the Coimbatore MP, K. Subbarayan, said that television features were the modern form of street plays that dealt with a variety of issues even while entertaining people.

"Only when we understand the past can we appreciate the present and become confident enough to deal with the future," he said.

Showing love and respect towards others was the essence of being human, but caste and creed considerations fostered hatred among people.

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