DD's moment of reckoning

The Commonwealth Games is a golden opportunity for public broadcaster Doordarshan (DD) to move on to centrestage once again. "We'll spend close to Rs 300 crore in production, coverage and telecast," says Aruna Sharma, Director-General, DD. The initial response to DD's efforts doesn't seem too encouraging with most big-ticket advertisers staying away. Here's a closer look at the final countdown to the Games.

• DD aims to earn more than Rs 300 crore from ad sale revenues in the 12 days of the Commonwealth Games telecast.
• The Games will be aired on five DD channels - DD National, DD Sports, DD India, DD Bharati and DD Urdu.
• It has created a mascot to generate audience interest in the Games.
• DD also expects substantial revenues from the private broadcasters who will want to distribute their channels through DD Direct Plus - the DTH arm of the broadcaster.
• DD will beam the Games in highdefinition digital format for the first time, which will be made available on DD Direct Plus.
• DD has rolled out a series of Games shows, offering 100,000 seconds of advertising time. It hopes to garner Rs 200 crore in ad revenues through these programmes, which will be on air till the Games ends.

-Anusha Subramanian