Doordarshan,half a century later

It turns out the intellectual property rights (IPRs) to these shows rested with their producers,who took them back,even as they remain the sole reference point to the popularity Doordarshan once enjoyed. Fifty years after the inception of Doordarshan’s first channel—later christened DD1—this revelation,in a way,sums up the state of affairs at the largest broadcast network in the world with 31 channels,66 studios,1,413 transmitters,and access to 128 million households.

“The kind of assets and resources they have are unmatched. But they have been a complete failure as a public broadcaster. They lack vision both in terms of producing good and contemporary content as well as being commercially viable,” says Rahul Dev,who was a prime time anchor on DD News between 1999 and 2000 and also produced various shows for Doordarshan.

The diminishing viewership share of DD1,the flagship channel of Doordarshan that once aired its most popular programmes,and a look at the financial performance of the broadcaster only support these allegations.

For one,Doordarshan continues to survive on government grants. In 2008-09,Prasar Bharati,the autonomous body that operates Doordarshan and All India Radio,received

Rs 1,269 crore in grants that are likely to go up to Rs 1,635 crore in 2009-10. On its own,Doordarshan generated around Rs 818 crore in gross revenues in 2008-09. This was Rs 76 crore less than what it had grossed in 2007-08 and around the same it had clocked in 2006-07. While Doordarshan’s financial performance has improved in the past few years,it is still far from what the industry will regard as satisfactory. Star India,the largest private broadcaster in the country with only 19 channels under its belt,for instance,had revenues in excess of Rs 2,200 crore in 2008-09.

The limitations

B.S. Lalli,the chief operating officer of Prasar Bharati,says it is unfair to compare Doordarshan with private operators. “Private channels are driven by commercial interests,whereas for us,commercial success is neither a mandate,nor a motivation,” he says.

He points out that under the Prasar Bharati Act,the main source of income for the body was to be the license fee that was proposed to be levied on television and radio owners. “But that never happened. Since our main source of income got scuttled,we had no option but to rely on government grants and loans,” he says.

Another senior Doordarshan official points out that unlike private broadcasters,DD channels don’t have any subscription income. “Most of our channels are free to air. So unlike private broadcasters,subscription income is non-existent for us. On the contrary,we spend a lot of money distributing our signals through our transmitters,” says Dhiranjan Malvey,senior director,Doordarshan commercial service.

Salaries to more than 20,000 employees,maintaining the vast transmission and distribution network,and technological upgradation are some of the major cost heads for the broadcaster. This leaves little money for programming,which is another bane in the fight for eyeballs with private broadcasters.

Public good?

Lalli also argues that as a public broadcaster,Doordarshan has to cater to the marginalised audience that private operators have no interest in. “Which private broadcaster would want to go to villages and remote towns? Their advertisers only want to reach the population that has disposable income. Besides,we also have to raise and address issues of public good that private broadcasters and even advertisers will not be interested in,” he says.

Lalli’s assertions,however,don’t find favour with broadcasting professionals and observers in the civil society. “Indeed,DD is a public broadcaster and it should not have a commercial agenda. But there is confusion over what public broadcasting is,” says Rajiv Mehrotra,managing trustee,Public Service Broadcasting Trust (PSBT).

A public broadcaster in a liberal society has to maintain a balance between catering to the marginalised audience in the society,to raise and promote the culture,values and ethics that define a good society and to a good extent support itself commercially,he says. And according to him,Doordarshan has failed on all counts.

A common allegation against Doordarshan is that despite its so-called autonomy,it remains a tool in the hands of the government and is still run by bureaucrats who are used to “inefficient,government-like ways” of functioning. “DD continues to be run by and for the government,” says a senior media professional,who after a small stint with DD News,joined a private broadcaster.

Many DD officials admit that bureaucracy rules at Prasar Bharati. “They refuse to look outside their window. And there is no pressure on them to do so. To be sure,making money is not a priority for us,but most of the time,it is used as an excuse for inefficiency,” says a senior official,not wanting to be quoted. He,however,adds that still,“the compromises made by private broadcasters to accommodate advertisers are far more than those made by us to accommodate the government”.

Jewel in the crown

The demand to cater to a vast and diverse universe of viewers and the pressure to appease its sole patron,the government,notwithstanding,there is still room for a better performance. And this has been proved by none other than DD1.

Among the 31 channels in Doordarshan’s bouquet,DD1 is the only one that stands on is own feet. Of the Rs 818 crore generated in revenues in 2008-09,Rs 367 crore was contributed by DD1. Likewise,the channel had contributed Rs 392 crore to Doordarshan’s coffers in 2007-08,when its gross revenues were Rs 893 crore. This has largely been made possible because of two bold decisions taken by the management. “Earlier,we used to provide programming hours to producers,who would give us a telecast fee while keeping the IPRs with them and also,raising their own advertising. Sometimes,we used third parties to sell our advertising time,and they would commit a certain sum and if they raised more than that—which they usually did—they simply kept it,” says Vijaylakshmi Chabbra,who served as DD’s director,marketing,in 2000 and is now deputy director-general of All India Radio. “This usually resulted in huge losses. Then,it was decided that we will do all our selling on our own,” he says.

The approach,common among private broadcasters,brought in handsome returns. Then,in 2005,DD1 began following yet another practice of buying the programmes from producers in return for a certain production fee,while the sales and marketing team raised advertising on its own. “This brought in twin benefits. One,we retained the IPRs of the programmes,which,if we wanted,we could exploit in future through repeat telecasts or by selling their DVDs; and two,we negotiated ad rates with advertisers based on the performance of our shows as well as their reach,” says Aparna Vaish,the current marketing director. This single decision helped Doordarshan shore up its revenues from Rs 665 crore in 2004-05 to Rs 947 crore in 2005-06.

DD1 charges around Rs 60,000 per 10 seconds of ad spots for its prime time—rates that,according to media buyers,are comparable with prime-time rates of channels such as Zee TV and even Star Plus. DD1,at present,has a slew of slick shows with a blend of good entertainment and social messages produced by top television content production houses in the industry. These include Miditech that has more than 15 years of experience in content production and has produced popular shows such as Roadies,global entertainment content producer Endemol,and Gajendra Singh,well known for his musical talent-hunt shows.

The list of advertisers on the channel is even more impressive. According to a senior ad sales executive,Hindustan Unilever,the largest consumer goods company and also,one of the largest advertisers in the country,spends close to Rs 100 crore a year in advertising on DD1. “Likewise,Dabur and Procter and Gamble have a commitment of around Rs 30 crore each,and now,telecom biggies such as Airtel,Vodafone,Idea,and BSNL are spending close to Rs 15 crore to Rs 25 crore on the channel,” he says,requesting anonymity.

DD1’s success is commendable,given that the channel still doesn’t have enough resources to promote itself or its shows the way its private counterparts do. Also,as its executives point out,they do not have the flexibility to negotiate ad rates or programming costs.

The other 30 channels,however,still have a long way to go. “Doordarshan was the first one to have penetrated the regional markets. Private players came very late. But look at the gap between what the two have achieved,” says Dev. The over-20 regional channels brought in less than Rs 100 crore to Doordarshan’s kitty in 2008-09.

The way forward

Many in the broadcasting industry argue that there is no need of a public broadcaster in a free market where a diverse set of channels will ensure plurality of views. Mehra of PSBT,however,argues otherwise. “Civil society needs voices that can counter blatant commercial interests. They are all the more important in a society which is so diverse like ours. All we need to do is to free these voices of vested interests and state control,” he says.

As for being commercially independent,there may be some lessons to learn from what DD1 has managed to achieve despite its many limitations.