NEW DELHI: Perhaps pummelled by the loads of bad press India’s Covid response has been drawing, national broadcaster Doordarshan had decided to launch an international channel to try to change the narrative. India’s Covid situation continues to dominate headlines across a wide swathe of international publications and websites like The New York Times, The Washington Post, the BBC, The Australian, The Economist, and news agency Reuters.
The public broadcaster last week floated an expression of interest (EOI) for DD International, inviting comments from private players to draft a detailed project report for the new channel. Bids were invited from reputed global consultants with experience in advising international broadcasters/media houses on projects.
Prasar Bharati CEO S S Vempati said such a project was on the cards for some time now. “It has been a long overdue strategic objective to establish international presence for Doordarshan. The Prasar Bharati Board in its last meeting (March) gave the go ahead to develop a project roadmap for the same by engaging an appropriate strategy consultant. This EOI is a step towards that,” said Vempati. The EOI said bureaus would be set up globally and there would be round-the-clock world service streams.