DD turns to BBC for technology

NEW DELHI, JULY 17: Doordarshan has turned to BBC to leapfrog to the digital era. The BBC's consultants wing, BBC Resources, finalizing tw...

NEW DELHI, JULY 17: Doordarshan has turned to BBC to leapfrog to the digital era. The BBC8217;s consultants wing, BBC Resources, finalizing two agreements worth Rs 2 crore with DD.

The first agreement, signed a few months ago, is for BBC Resources to conduct an exhaustive audit of Doordarshan8217;s technical capabilities and the efficacy of its equipment. BBC Resources will be paid approximately Rs 70 lakhs for the audit and the first part on the facilities at the Delhi kendra has been completed.

The second assignment is for BBC Resources to conduct a feasibility report for Doordarshan to phase out its analogue transmission and go digital. Says K Kunhikrishnan, Deputy Director General: 8220;There have been a lot of complaints about the quality of transmission and BBC Resources was the best consultant in the field for conducting the feasibility study. The idea is to improve image and signals down to the last mile, which means down to the last receiver.8221;

BBC Resources will be paid Rs 1.3 crore for conducting the feasibility study, which will be in two parts 8212; covering the techno-economic implications of the move as well as the roll-out plan on what it means for Doordarshan8217;s country-wide network. Doordarshan has set 2012 as its target date for commencing its digital service.

Sources say some officials have questioned the lack of transparency in Doordarshan hand-picking BBC Resources for the twin assignments. Interestingly, a team from Doordarshan and All India Radio is in Paris right now examining the technical facilities of TDF, a private French broadcaster.

The officials are members of a committee set up a few months ago to look at Doordarshan8217;s technical capabilities. An official of the TDF is a special invitee on the committee, along with three non-official members.

The arrangement with BBC Resources was firmed up after a visit of some top officials, led by Doordarshan CEO Rajeeva Ratna Shah to the UK. It is understood that while the first agreement for the technical audit has been cleared by the Prasar Bharti Board, the agreement for the feasibility study is ready for signing.

Story continues below this ad

Senior members of Doordarshan8217;s engineering wing say that while a foreign broadcaster may have been allowed to enter the hitherto zealously guarded area of examining technical parametres for the first time, the choice of BBC Resources was an obvious one since BBC is also a public broadcaster and the first in Europe to go fully digital.

The European model was, thus, quietely chosen over the American or the Japanese model and BBC Resources will be advising Doordarshan on every aspect of going digital 8212; from the choice of channels to be offered to viewers to the commercial viability of the switchover.

Ritu Sarin

Ritu Sarin is Executive Editor (News and Investigations) at The Indian Express group. Her areas of specialisation include internal security, money laundering and corruption. Sarin is one of India’s most renowned reporters and has a career in journalism of over four decades. She is a member of the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists (ICIJ) since 1999 and since early 2023, a member of its Board of Directors. She has also been a founder member of the ICIJ Network Committee (INC). She has, to begin with, alone, and later led teams which have worked on ICIJ’s Offshore Leaks, Swiss Leaks, the Pulitzer Prize winning Panama Papers, Paradise Papers, Implant Files, Fincen Files, Pandora Papers, the Uber Files and Deforestation Inc. She has conducted investigative journalism workshops and addressed investigative journalism conferences with a specialisation on collaborative journalism in several countries. ... Read More