Prasar Bharati Corporation : Obstacles in Progress

Prasar Bharati Corporation : Obstacles in Progress

Question: Prasar Bharati Corporation has to be managed with more care to yield rich dividends. Discuss.

About Prasar Bharati

• Prasar Bharati is a statutory autonomous body formed under the Prasar Bharati Act and came into existence on 23.11.1997.

• It is the Public Service Broadcaster of the nation

• The objectives of this service are achieved in terms of Prasar Bharati Act through All India Radio and Doordarshan, which earlier were working as media units under the Ministry of I&B and since the date of inception became constituents of Prasar Bharati.

Obstacles

• Prasad Bharati Corporation is facing challenge of being relevant in the digital age

• Virtual government control over the media had once ensured that AIR and DD aired the best programmes and generated maximum viewership

• Now there are over 30 public service broadcasters and the most popular is BBC

• While BBC is supported by revenue from licence fee paid by every TV one in the UK and over 70% of the income is for programming, Prasar Bharati runs on government funding and only 15% of its budget is spent on content; the remaining amount goes for payment of 31, 621 employees

• Corporation also does not have the power to monetise its under utilised assets such as real estate and transmitters

• Prasad Bharati also lacks the programming and technology to be at the top of the game

• It needs to boost viewership through innovation

• Prasar Bharati Corporation also needs professional management

• It needs to overhaul its administration operations

Facts and Stats

• Prasar Bharati Corporation was established in 1997 through an Act of the Parliament for public broadcasting

• The Corporation provides the following services: Doordarshan and All India Radio for informing, educating and entertaining

• India has 830 channels accessed by 150 million households with TV sets.

• Cable TV has penetrated 92% of the households