Doordarshan to simulcast Zee's Ramayan series

After tasting success with Aamir Khan's Satyamev Jayate, public broadcaster Doordarshan has now tied up with Zee TV to simulcast the mythological Ramayan series being aired in a new avatar every Sunday morning at 11 am since August 12.

This is clearly its attempt to revive the glory of Sunday morning slot with a one-hour slot on DD National (DD1) timed along with ZEE TV's telecast at the same time.

This epic is directed by Moti Sagar of Sagar Arts fame. The original small-screen version was aired on DD in the 1980s and was produced and directed by none other than Moti Sagar's father, Ramanand Sagar.

The public broadcaster said in a statement that the timeless classic based on Tulsidas's Ramcharitmanas is still relevant, and will provide wholesome entertainment and a message to the entire family.

It is interesting that DD is increasingly seeing value in piggybacking on private broadcasters' programmes. It is actually a win-win for both DD as well as for the Hindi General Entertainment Channels (GEC).

Satyamev Jayate, for instance, consistently averaged a rating of 3 that was considered good in addition to the mileage the programme got on social media.

DD reaches 100 per cent of India's 148 million TV households given its multi-platform availability on terrestrial TV, analog and digital cable, and satellite networks. Zee TV is available to over 126 million cable, satellite and digital homes.

"Some shows, by sheer virtue of their content, deserve to be made available to every single Indian," says Ajay Bhalwankar, Head - Content (for Hindi GECs), ZEE.

"Ramayan is a way of life that our future generations must carry on as their biggest legacy. So, with a view to ensuring that we maximise its reach, we have made the show available on Doordarshan in the same time slot of 11 am every Sunday."