Prasar Bharati to spread reach of DD's international channel

Aiming to shore up its presence globally, national broadcaster Prasar Bharati is planning to hire a consulting agency to spread the reach of Doordarshan's international channel DD India. Sources said Prasar Bharati has already begun its search for agencies.

"We have already invited expression of interest for eligible consulting agencies who can help in global distribution of DD India through suitable delivery platforms like Direct to Home, cable or IPTV in different regions of the world," a source said.

Sources said that firms with the required expertise can make their proposals by March 22.
To establish its reach worldwide, Doordarshan launched its international channel DD World in March, 1995 which was renamed as DD India in 2002.

DD India was launched with a mission to build bridges of communication with Indians living abroad and to showcase the India's culture, values, traditions, diversity, and unity to the world through high-quality programmes.

DD India is currently up-linked from New Delhi and can be watched in 146 countries through PAS -9 and PAS -10 satellites.

The channel carries news bulletins, features on topical events, entertainment programmes, feature films, music and dance, children programmes, events and tourism.

In addition to Hindi and English, programmes in Urdu, Punjabi, Telugu, Tamil, Kannada, Malayalam, Gujarati and Marathi form the channel's content.