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DD signs MoU with Deutsche Welle

The agreement will help in distributing DD's overseas 'India Channel' on the DTH platform

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DD signs MoU with Deutsche Welle

The agreement will help in distributing DD's overseas 'India Channel' on the DTH platform

BestMediaInfo Bureau | Delhi | August 7, 2014

prasar-bharatiPrasar Bharati, India's public service broadcaster, and Deutsche Welle (DW), Germany's public service broadcaster, have signed an MoU for distribution of Doordarshan's overseas 'India Channel' on the DTH platform of Hotbird – 13B Satellite and the reciprocal distribution of DW TV on DD Freedish. The breakthrough was signed on Tuesday, August 5, in New Delhi.

This would enable Doordarshan programmes to be aired in a free-to-air basic package mode on a DTH platform. Earlier, whenever DD had attempted to distribute its international channels, it got held up due to policies which did not permit large-scale spending on carriage fees.

The whole of Europe, Asia, North Africa and even up to Australia would be covered as Zones – Central Asia, Middle East, East Europe and North Africa, Europe West and North Africa.

Hotbird is the most preferred satellite by European countries because of its polarity. It has a reach of 120 million homes in Europe, Northern Africa and the whole of Middle East. Hotbird 13 B has a total of 1,543 TV channels of which 1,117 TV channels are FTA.

Over 120 English channels are available on this satellite, prominent amongst which are BBC, CNN, CCTV, RT, France24, VOA TV, Euromans, Sky News, Bloomberg TV, Al Jazeera, etc. Heavy investments have been made by countries like Japan, Germany, China, Russia, France, among others, of between Rs 4,000 crore and Rs 8,000 crore to ensure global reach for its international channels. However, DD currently has a budget of Rs 2-3 crore per year for production of programmes, which has to go up. They would also need the other ministries to pool in their resources or content for quality programmes for viewership abroad.

A dedicated team will be looking at the target market to decide on content strategy, keeping in mind cultural and other sensitivities in countries that would receive DD's transmission. It would also set the time and languages for different target audiences – NRI in Gulf countries, Europe, etc. – and would be in regular consultations with MIB, MEA, MOIA, Tourism and Culture.

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

Info@BestMediaInfo.com

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