Once bitten, Doordarshan plans many firsts in coverage
Broadcaster to provide sign language, commentary in regional languages.
Having courted controversy recently for airing an edited version of Narendra Modi’s interview during the Lok Sabha polls, state broadcaster Doordarshan is set to try a slew of new ideas while covering the Prime Minister-designate’s swearing-in on May 26.
These ideas, officials said, were intended to ensure a more customised viewing experience across the country.
In a first, the coverage of the swearing-in will include an anchor describing the evening’s proceedings through sign language in a small window on the TV screen. “We tried this during this year’s Republic Day parade coverage. This is the first time sign language would be used during the swearing-in broadcast,” DD Delhi’s additional director general Nadoja Dr Mahesh Joshi told The Indian Express.
All 15 regional channels of DD have been asked to ensure the event’s commentary is done in their respective regional languages. “DD Saptagiri in Andhra Pradesh, for instance, will have Telugu commentary. DD Kashmir will air the ceremony in Kashmiri,” Joshi said. This too, he said, was being done for the first time to give viewers the option of watching the proceedings in their preferred language. In another first, the ceremony will be telecast live on YouTube, officials said.
The broadcaster has put a team of 46 people to plan and execute the coverage. Two outdoor broadcast vans and 12 cameras will be used to cover the ceremony in the Rashtrapati Bhavan forecourt. “We are planning to set up cameras on Rashtrapati Bhavan’s roof to get aerial shots of the forecourt,” a senior DD official said.
This team will first conduct a dry run on Saturday and then a full rehearsal on Sunday, officials said.
While DD will provide its exclusive live-feed to Indian broadcasters free of cost, it is also making prior arrangements to be able to share its satellite parameters with broadcasters from some of the SAARC countries.
While live telecast of the ceremony will begin at 5.55 pm, it will be preceded by a small segment starting 5.30 pm, which is likely to be short feature on Modi, sources said.
Two quit Prasar Bharati Board
NEW DELHI: Days before the new government takes charge, two part-time members of the Prasar Bharati Board have resigned from their posts. Congress loyalist and confidant Suman Dubey, who also resigned from the Nehru Memorial Museum & Library, and C R Kesavan, the great-grandson of C Rajagopalachari and a TV panelist for the Congress party are learnt to have sent in their resignations from the Prasar Bharati Board. ENS
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