NEW DELHI: The digital channels of Prasar Bharti on youtube including Doordarshan are popular and seen across the globe however maximum viewership comes from Pakistan. According to the statistics of the ministry of information and broadcasting (I&B), on the top of the list of foreign countries with higher viewership are the United States (US), Saudi Arabia, Bangladesh, United Arab Emirates (UAE) besides Pakistan, where the number of the viewers significantly have risen in the three years between 2018 and 2020.
During the coronavirus pandemic in 2021, viewership from Nepal has also increased.
The digital channels of the public service broadcaster of India on youtube received more than 64 lakh views from Pakistan in 2018, which increased to about 1.33 lakh in 2020. Till November 30 this year, total viewership from this neighbouring nation was already 1.30 lakh.
In 2018, 52.26 youtube users in the US watched All India Radio (AIR) and Doordarshan channels. As per the information provided by the ministry in Rajya Sabha earlier this week, in 2020, the viewership was 1.28 lakh approximately.
The viewership of Prasar Bharti’s digital channels in UAE has also increased from 37 lakh in 2018 to 82. 72 lakh in 2020.
Prasar Bharati has more than 170 Youtube channels of its AIR and Doordarshan network.
Replying to questions regarding popularity and viewership of digital channels of the public broadcaster in Rajya Sabha, the information and broadcasting minister Anurag Thakur informed that Prasar Bharati is constantly taking steps to make its various audio and video digital channels popular.
“NewsOnAir app publishes periodic rankings of popular livestreams city-wise and country-wise. Several rare archival recordings are made public through digital channels such as Radio Autobiographies, Constituent Assembly speeches etc including live-streaming of programmes of national importance. Content in multiple Indian languages is also being made available for on-demand digital consumption through smart devices,” said his reply.
Prasar Bharati has made more than 250 AIR channels digitally available on its ‘NewsOnAir’ mobile application. In addition, DD channels and various live programmes of national importance which do not involve copyright issues are also being live-streamed on this app. These channels are also made available on newsonair.com website for net users for a global audience.
The US, United Kingdom (UK), UAE, Saudi Arabia, Australia, and Canada have maximum ‘NewsOnAir’ app users.