Doordarshan in hope to revitalize its content have introduced a new ‘slot sale policy’. The National Broadcaster will auction its prime time slots in a phased manner to attract major production houses by the end of this financial year. As per reports Sunday slots are likely to be put up for sale first. » HT Media Ltd. has reported a 43.38% rise in digital revenues for the last quarter ended on 31 Dec, 2015. Its digital business amassed Rs 38.2 crore from Rs 26.7 crore in the same quarter last year. Confident with the current stats, HT now plans to focus on starting new radio stations acquired on Phase-III airwave auctions. » The Consumer Complaints Council (CCC) of the Advertising Standards Council of India (ASCI) has upheld complaints against 38 out of 72 misleading advertisements first reported on October last year. Out of the 38 ads, 19 belonged to the Healthcare category, followed by 5 in telecommunication and broadband category, 4 in Personal Care category and 10 advertisements from other categories. Click for more.
Doordarshan
The Price of Liberty
Prime Minister Narendra Modi spoke at the Jagran forum in the capital yesterday. Laying emphasis on the importance of democracy Modi said, “Eternal Vigilance is the Price of Liberty.” Calling out for people participation in the development journey of the nation, he advocated for the “Jan Andolan” model to be applied to the country’s development process. » Doordarshan to be your go-to spot for any health related scheme information directly from the Health & Family Welfare Ministry. An MOU has been signed to facilitate audience education on sustained health campaigns, considering DD’s massive reach, especially in rural areas. » The Autocar Show gets a new address on TV. It will be aired on Times Now and ET Now starting today. “We are delighted to have tied up with India’s most respected experts in the automobile circuit to launch The Autocar Show”, said Arnab Goswami, Times Now and ET Now President. » Arnab Goswami to talk about the role of global media in a multipolar world at an International Media event in Moscow. The conference, commemorating the 10th anniversary of Russia Today, will host top media executives from around the world including Margarita Simonyan, Editor-in-Chief, Global multilingual Television News Network and Liu Ge, Deputy Director, CCTVNEWS. » Meanwhile Times Now continues to lead the English News genre closely followed by CNN-IBN and NDTV 24×7. Aaj Tak and India TV were the leaders in the Hindi News genre according to BARC week 48 data.
Hindu Vigilantism
The Quint decides to document the rise of Hindu vigilantism in Uttar Pradesh. In their documentary film – ‘THE WILD WEST OF UTTAR PRADESH’ they talk about the psyche, inspiration, and modus operandi of young recruits in the religious extremist ‘vigilante’ groups, driven by the fear of Islam. » No appearance exemption for Sonia & Rahul Gandhi as Delhi High Court found the Congress leaders’ conduct questionable in the National Herald ‘cheating and criminal breach of trust’ case. The court also confidently said that “the MO adopted by the petitioners evidences a criminal intent”. No mala fides can be alleged against Dr. Subramanian Swamy, who had filed the case in November 2012, the Judge ruled. » DD is changing its satellite. Doordarshan’s regional channels will be beamed from INSAT-4B instead of INSAT-3A with effect from 10th December. A downtime of 5 hours is planned to make the shift. » Assam journos demand a national legislation for their protection in a memorandum to PM Narendra Modi, citing rising violence, even killings, against the ‘fourth pillar’ of democracy. Read what else the Journalist Association of Assam asked for. » With BARC India moving to digital measurement, it has issued a global Request for Information (RFI) aimed at understanding capabilities of Online Video Advertising and Content measurement techniques. An RFP is to follow the information gathering phase. Interested parties can write to digitalrfi@barcindia.co.in before 24 December, 2015.
Foot in the Mouth
Media Biggie NDTV was caught with its foot in the mouth when it posted a picture of RBI governor Raghuram Rajan in a tweet about underworld don Chota Rajan. Twitterati had a field day but hopefully the RBI Governor wasn’t too offended. » Retail and Ecommerce brands surprisingly gave the much talked about Bihar election result coverage a miss. Top ad spenders were Auto, FMCG, and Cement brands. Read the details of spend trends on English and Hindi news channels here. » The national broadcaster Doordarshan might soon air outsourced content. Prasar Bharti’s meeting on Friday, discussed and favoured outsourcing DD time bands to improve programme content quality. Details of the proposal will be finalized soon. » Editors Guild of India gets an editor from Jammu & Kashmir for the first time. Fayaz Kaloo, editor-in-chief of locally popular English daily Greater Kashmir has been invited to his first guild meeting in New Delhi on 14th November. J&K CM Mufti Muhammad Sayeed, Mehbooba Mufti and former CM Omar Abdullah were among many others who proudly greeted Kaloo.
Viewership Game Changer
With the release of the much-awaited data including rural areas, BARC India has expanded its reach to 153.5 million TV households. The survey brings to front many interesting findings, such as lesser time is spent on TV in rural areas. Read full details here. » Health Ministry gives a point-by-point rebuttal to Lancet editor, Richard Horton’s comments about the ‘health’ sector being absent from the PM’s agenda. The ministry’s letter completely rubbished the leading medical journal’s editor’s recent interview to TOI, stating new schemes to be rolled out as part of its health agenda. » After BARC released all India viewership data, Doordarshan seems to be topping the charts as the most watched Hindi channel. Besides this “monumental development”, DD National also saw a significant rise in ratings according to the data. » HuffPost journos are the latest amongst many others to join the union bandwagon. As new media organizations mature, journalists are demanding better pay and working conditions, and greater transparency from their management. Editorial independence also is one of the reasons for unionizing.
‘Purple Skies’
In a first, Doordarshan will telecast a documentary film on the LGBT community, ‘Purple Skies’. Directed by Sridhar Rangayan and produced by Public Service Broadcasting Trust (PSBT) which has a tie up with Doordarshan and Solaris Films, the documentary has already been screened at 27 international film festivals so far. » The Supreme Court of India, later today will hear a review plea of state governments ‘on the ban of politicians image in government ads’. » Uber has launched a new in-car magazine – ‘Arriving Now’ for its commuters in New York, and plans to expand it to other markets. The magazine’s first edition will feature pro tips, hotspots and exclusive details about upcoming promotions.
Men on a Mission
On a one of its kind campaign trail, President Barack Obama will trek through the Alaskan wilderness for a special edition of NBC’s “Running Wild with Bear Grylls.” The episode, which will be taped and air later this year, is meant to call attention to the effects of climate change on that area. PETA however, did not take the news well; releasing a statement criticizing the show. » Reliance Broadcast Network owned 92.7 Big FM undergoes revamp, unveiling its new logo. A rectangular blue panel with its name with the ‘big’ is in a yellow circle in the center, the network’s new logo is described as contemporary, young, optimistic and fun. “On a mission to reach, engage and enrich the lives of India’s vast populace, the new logo is a positive change and we are looking forward to creating yet another benchmark,” said COO Ashwin Padmanabhan. » To mark Sanskrit Diwas celebrations, DD has launched an exclusive page on Facebook and a handle on Twitter to cater to its specific audience in Sanskrit. Officials also added that the DD News has also decided to shift the timing of its Sanskrit programme ‘Vaartavali’ from afternoon slot on Sundays to evening prime time on Saturdays in order to meet a long-standing demand from viewers.
DD’s Run to Continue
Reports claiming that DD India might go off air following the expiry of its satellite license have been refuted by DD’s Deputy Director General, CK Jain. Pointing out that the license expires on 30th September and not 31st August, he said that options for a public broadcaster having a larger bandwidth are being explored, while assuring that the channel will not go off air. »The blame-game continues as journalists in Chennai representing different clubs and unions are now at the brink of implosion, with dirty linen being washed in public and both groups pointing fingers at each other for being undemocratic. The Chennai Press Club is facing several allegations including undemocratic functioning, maladministration and embezzlement of funds (read full story).
Doordarshan of Progress
With an aim to fast-track development and progress in the North-East region, the MIB is planning to increase the number of Doordarshan channels. The Ministry is considering a trifurcation of the sole 24×7 channel: DD Arunprabha for Arunachal Pradesh and Sikkim; one for Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland; and a third channel for Assam and Meghalaya to cater to the rich & diverse cultures of the region. » Tapping into unconventional methods of educating children, The Hindu has come up with a special edition in Mumbai – ‘The Hindu in School’. Speaking about the latest volume, Editor, Siddharth Varadarajan said, “The Hindu in School would inform students about what is happening in India, the world, in science and sports, but would also seek to inculcate in them the spirit of civilized debate, of respect for differing points of view.” The school edition is designed for students in classes 8-10 and will be published from Monday to Friday. Priced at Rs. 3 and distributed to over 2,500 schools, the edition will be launched next in Kolkata by August-end.
Broadcasters Warned
According to an article in The Hindu, The Ministry of Information & Broadcasting has issued an advisory against live media broadcasts and coverage of anti-terrorist operations by security forces following the Gurdaspur incident in Punjab. The Ministry said this is a clear violation of the Cable Television Networks (Amendment) Rules, 2015, and makes them liable for action. » Despite increased investment and added expertise from consultants, the state-run broadcast channel’s viewership remains poor. According to BARC, DD National is 13th of 15 entertainment channels while DD Sports is 10th of 13 sports channels. DD News is eighth of 14 news channels while DD Bharati is 10th in the list of 11 culture channels.Jawhar Sircar, CEO of Prasar Bharati jumped to defend the broadcaster and stated that the data was skewed as it didn’t cover 40% of the country, leaving out rural areas. “We are not saying that we will be on top after the complete data comes out but it will be a fairer analysis”, he told The Economic Times. » Genesis Burson-Marsteller launches the website for ‘STEP UP’, a new division that specifically services startups and upcoming brands with integrated communication strategies and packages.
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