Prasar Bharati set to finalise Rs 15-crore deal with anchor Sudhir Chaudhary for DD show
The show by Sudhir Chaudhary will likely get a prime-time slot on DD News and is expected to air from May.
3 min read
Sudhir ChaudharyPublic broadcaster Prasar Bharati is set to finalise a Rs 15-crore per year deal with news anchor Sudhir Chaudhary for a one-hour show to be telecast on Doordarshan on weekdays, The Indian Express has learnt.
“The deal is certainly under consideration and will be signed soon,” said an official who did not wish to be named. The broadcaster engages anchors from time to time for new shows, and Rs 15 crore a year does not exceed the rates approved by the Central Bureau of Communication (CBC), he said.
CBC, an arm of the Information & Broadcasting Ministry, has the mandate to provide communication solutions to various ministries, departments, public sector undertakings and other autonomous organisations.
Sources said the show will get a prime-time slot on DD News and is expected to air from May. Chaudhary was unavailable for comment. His social media profile continues to describe him as Consulting Editor at Aaj Tak, India Today group’s Hindi news channel.
According to a memo discussed at a recent meeting held at Prasar Bharati, the broadcaster has granted approval to “ESSPRIT Productions Pvt Ltd, represented by Chaudhary, to produce one-hour duration exclusive show from DD News (to air five days a week) at Rs 15 crore per annum plus GST, which will be subject to escalation at the rate of 10% every year.”
A negotiation committee formed by Prasar Bharati is learnt to have held five meetings with Chaudhary’s company on the production cost of the show, after which the amount was finalised. The Rs 15-crore deal was within the range of `28.6 crore for producing one-hour programmes of 260 shows a year as per the CBC rates, said another official, who too did not wish to be named.
Navneet Sehgal, an IAS officer, who retired in July 2023 as Additional Chief Secretary to the Uttar Pradesh government, and chairs Prasar Bharati now, did not respond to calls. Prasar Bharati CEO Gaurav Dwivedi, too, did not respond to calls.
Those aware of the developments at Prasar Bharati said the idea is to offer a new lease of life to DD News in the competitive news space. Besides Chaudhary’s show, several other shows and programmes are also in the pipeline in the coming weeks. These will mark a shift in Doordarshan’s existing content strategy, making it more multimedia-driven, they said.
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