Modi govt to launch BBC World-like DD International channel

NEW DELHI: State-owned broadcaster Doordarshan is set to establish a new channel, DD International — on the lines of BBC World — which it says will seek to project India’s voice globally on significant domestic and global issues.

This will be Doordarshan’s second channel with a similar objective. DD India, which is Doordarshan’s English news and current affairs channel, has also been fine tuned over the years to target a global audience. DD India was even renamed as DD World for a while before it was changed back to its original name in 2019.

Last week, Doordarshan’s parent body, Prasar Bharati, floated a draft Expression of Interest (EoI) inviting comments from private players. The EOI will be finalised following these comments, and will then be floated to invite bids from the private players, who will be expected to draft a Detailed Project Report on establishing the channel.

The draft EoI comes at a time the Modi government is battling massive bad press over its handling of the Covid-19 pandemic, particularly from foreign media.

Sources in the broadcaster, however, told ThePrint that rigorous planning and preparations for the channel have been ongoing for the last several months within Prasar Bharati, particularly with respect to distribution.

“There was some internal work going on in this aspect, but there was no prior experience in setting up a global channel,” a source said. “Hence it was decided to hire private consultancy to prepare the DPR and the roadmap for this.”

The EoI document states that the establishment of DD International has been envisaged in view of the strategic objective to build a global presence for Doordarshan and to establish an international voice for India.

“Hence, this EOI is being issued for a Detailed Project Report (DPR) from reputed global consultants with experience in advising international broadcasters/media houses on projects of this nature,” the document states.

The Modi government has for a while been looking to counter some of the criticism it receives abroad.

In March this year, the Centre was upset over a report released by US-based think tank Freedom House that “downgraded” India’s ranking on its freedom index and classified it as a ‘partly free’ country. The government had then issued a rebuttal.

Days later, Sweden’s V-Dem Institute in its report downgraded India from “the world’s largest democracy” to an “electoral autocracy”, citing “muzzling” of the media, and overuse of defamation and sedition laws. (THE PRINT)