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NEW DELHI: Indian pubcaster Doordarshan has decided to attempt
maximizing revenue through its film slots by showing as many
blockbuster films as possible during the remaining part of
the year.
This assumes importance in view of the fact that DD does
not have exclusive cricket telecast rights, which brought
in sizeable revenue during the previous years.
A high level committee headed by Prasar Bharati CEO Brijeshwar
Singh has been formed to ensure smooth implementation of the
rejuvenated film policy.
The other members of the panel are Doordarshan DG L D Mandloi
and Rajat Bhargava, additional DG (finance).
DD has five film slots in a week --- the Friday night feature
film, Saturday night feature film, Retrospective of Sunday
Afternoons, Bio-Scope serialized feature film slot and the
slot on Hindi belt network.
The films will be marketed by Prasar Bharati’s marketing
divisions in Mumbai and Delhi and will be largely procured
through National Films Development Corporation.
Prasar Bharati has chosen films to be the revenue growth
engines as ananalysis of revenue flow has shown that they
have the maximum potential to deliver net revenue.
For example, Friday feature film is a clear winner. Besides
being the most watched feature film on television in all TV
homes with ratings of 7 and above (as per TAM data), it also
fetches net revenue in excess of Rs 8 million per film.
The Saturday feature film is a close second with a net revenue
realization of approximately Rs 7 million. Retrospective on
Sundays, which saw films of eminent artistes, have a niche
audience appeal, yet manages to draw sizeable revenue.
Since last one and a half years, Doordarshan has been showing
blockbuster films on its national network on a regular basis.
Earlier, the frequency was once a month, which was interspersed
with other new/ recent films. Gone are the days when DD scheduled
only old movies.
An internal analysis by Prasar Bharati, which manages DD,
has also shown that whenever blockbuster films were scheduled,
they not only managed to garner higher revenue, but also attracted
a sizeable C&S home audience.
Shah Rukh Khan starrer Swades and Akshay Kumar-Priyanka
Chopra starrer Aitraz being some recent examples.
The blockbusters offer DD another plus. They helped promote
other serials and programmes of the national broadcaster,
especially offering a sample to those C&S home visitors
to DD.
Last financial year ended 31 March 2006, Doordarshan earned
revenue of Rs 9.6 billion. The present effort is to gear up
the national broadcaster to meet the challenges and repeat
its good performance this year too.
Giving effect to the new film strategy, DD has scheduled
following hit films in the forthcoming days: Munnabhai
MBBS on 29 September 2006, Jism on 30 September,
Hum Saath Saath Hain on 1 October on Hindi belt network
and Swades on 2 October being a Dussehra / Gandhi Jayanti
holiday.
To mark the occasion of birth anniversary of Father of the
Nation, DD will also be showing Gandhi Se Mahatma Tak
as part of serialized film slot, Bio Scope, on Monday, Tuesday
Wednesday (2-4 October).
Koi Mil Gaya, Mujh Se Shaadi Karoge, Virudh
are among other big films lined for October.
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