india

Updated: Aug 06, 2014 01:29 IST

Prasar Bharati, the entity that runs Doordarshan, and German public broadcaster Deutsche Welle signed a historic agreement on Tuesday that would allow a key DD channel to go on air across the world.

“It’s a historic breakthrough,” said Prasar Bharti CEO Jawhar Sircar.

Explaining the agreement, Sircar said: “For the first time in history of Doordarshan’s 55 years, one of its channels, (DD India), would soon be available in a Free-to-Air basic package mode, on a DTH Ku-band platform of Hotbird-13B satellite.”

The CEO added, “It covers the whole of Europe, Central Asia and the Arab world of West Asia and North Africa. This means a direct access to DD channel in about 120 million households abroad.”

The agreement provides India with a platform to project its viewpoint to a global audience in a cost effective manner, officials said.

Sircar said a consultative group could be constituted to suggest the content for Doordarshan’s international channel, which may perhaps be headed by the foreign secretary.

The MoU entails distribution of ‘India Channel’ on DTH Platform of Hotbird-13B Satellite — which has a reach across continents — and the reciprocal distribution of DW-TV on DD Freedish.

Twenty-four English channels are available on this satellite, prominent among which are BBC, CNN, CCTV, RT, France24, VOA TV, Euromans, Sky News, Bloomberg TV, Al Jazeera, etc.