The Hindu Business Line : Prasar Bharati ups revenue target

The good times are in for national broadcaster, Prasar Bharati, which recorded 48 per cent hike in gross revenue at Rs 1,230 crore in 2005-06 fiscal against Rs 831.4 crore recorded in the previous fiscal.

Doordarshan contributed Rs 960 crore while All India Radio's (AIR) revenue grew 67 per cent to Rs 268 crore in the last fiscal.

The growth in revenues is mainly due to several initiatives such as soliciting advertising from Central and State Government bodies, setting up marketing division and cricket broadcasting. Mr K.S. Sarma, CEO, Prasar Bharati, said Prasar Bharati was eyeing Rs 1,500-crore revenues this fiscal. "We will work towards it and on the back of existing and new initiatives, are hopeful to achieve it," he said.

The national broadcaster is also planning to increase the number of channels on its direct-to-home (DTH) platform from the existing 33 to 52 this year. Bouyed by the success of DD Direct Plus, it will now charge an annual technical fee of Rs 1 crore to cover the carriage costs.

FIFA World Cup

ESPN-Star Sports, which has the exclusive rights to the forthcoming FIFA World Cup, might have to share the feed with the national broadcaster.

Sources said that FIFA World Cup figures in the tentative list of events of national importance being drawn up by the Government. However, the list has not yet been notified. Also, it is not clear whether the private sports broadcaster would have to share the signals of all the matches or only a select few with Doordarshan.

More Stories on : Advertising | Radio/TV | PSU

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Stories in this Section
Titan plans servicing of mobiles

Prasar Bharati ups revenue target

Chute Gerdeman's India foray

`Mobiles, computers make kids tech-savvy'

Asian Paints sees big growth in auto segment