Its slot sale a dud, Doordarshan begins work on a new policy

With Doordarshan’s slot sale policy unable to generate new content for it, the national broadcaster has decided to give extension to the programmes currently running on its network.

It is learnt that a decision regarding the new policy for programmes is expected to be taken at a Prasar Bharati board meeting later this month.

Sources said the extension was given as the broadcaster is facing a dearth of programmes for its prime time slot. The decision to telecast re-runs or arrange for other programmes was ruled out as that would have adversely affected the viewership or Doordarshan’s budget.

Most of the programmes have been given an extension of between a few weeks to a few months. Doordarshan was forced to take the step after the second successive failure of its slot sale policy. Even with relaxed norms for acquisition, the broadcaster was unable to attract private producers.

Sources stated that a meeting of Prasar Bharati board, the highest decision-making body of the national broadcaster, is likely to take place later this month. It is believed that Prasar Bharati CEO Jawhar Sircar is still in favour of relaxing the norms and brining in another version of slot sale policy. However, sources said that several board members are against bringing in another relaxed version of the policy.

During the two attempts to e-auction its prime time slots, Doordarshan did not find a single private production house eligible as none could fulfil the conditions laid out by it. The policy couldn’t take off even after the board’s decision to introduce a one-time amnesty scheme for blacklisted production houses and producers.

The policy was cleared as several of Doordarshan’s major hit series — Ramayana, Mahabharat, Hum Log, Buniyaad and Chandrakanta — were produced through the slot sale method.

Under the policy, which the board cleared a few months ago, it was decided that Doordarshan would auction prime time slots — from 7 to 11 p.m., Monday to Friday — on its national channel. As per the new policy, producers would provide content in return for a share in the advertising revenue.