DD reinvents; but can it lock horns with contemporary private channels?

Courtesy:  www.exchange4media.com

Writer: Collin Furtado - Monday, Jul 28,2014 8:36 AM

With Finance Minister Arun Jaitley recently stating during the Budget session that Doordarshan (DD National) will compete on par with other TV channels, the channel has recently launched a barrage of new shows and repackaged old ones. Shows such as 'Ek Tha Rusty' season 3, Ghan Garaje, The exalted portals of Thumri, Nadiyaan Gaati Hain and few others like these have been introduced one after the other within the last two months. This begs the question if DD National is ready to set aside its age-old ways and become a television channel to really compete with other contemporary private channels?According to a source from the national channel, "Though the channel will not be able to compete with the likes of Hindi GECs such as Star Plus, Zee TV, etc., as our audience primarily lies in small towns and villages, we are however now trying to capture viewers from the urban audience". Further to this, the source said that though the network is autonomous they cannot deny the influence of the Finance Minister's speech and the Information and Broadcast Ministry on the channel and the push for it become more competitive.

However, if one were to take a look at some of their recent programs, many of them are just a re-introduction of old shows which have done well in the past. 'Ek Tha Rusty' for instance was once upon a time a top rated show on television at a time when competition was too little. Though they might expect to tap into the nostalgia of the viewers with the new season 3 it seems almost like an insurmountable task with the choice audiences have today. The other shows launched recently combine a mix of infotainment and music shows such as Nadiyaan Gaati Hain, Earth Matters, Gaon Connection, Yatra, Taaki Bahti Rahe Ganga and Ghan Garaje and appeal to a very niche audience. The only show that has done quite well is the reality dance show 'Bharat Ki Shaan: Let's Dance', which has performed well on the channel for five seasons. This year however it has been revamped with a new look and has managed to rope in Close-Up as the title sponsor for the show. Among the new programs introduced lately is the soap 'Aisa Prem Kahan' which they hope will get them more eyeballs.

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