DD India to become English news channel, DD News only Hindi

New Delhi, June 11

Public broadcaster Doordarshan’s international channel — DD India — is all set to turn into an English news channel, while the bilingual DD News may soon air only Hindi news.

The decision to reposition the key channels was taken after much brainstorming at a recent meeting of the Prasar Bharati board, sources told PTI.

“While DD India has struggled to come up as a leading global channel because of lack of resources, DD News has its own issues. It is a kind of hybrid channel, which delivers news in Hindi as well as English,” an official source said.

The discussion on the two channels was initiated by Prasar Bharati chairperson A Surya Prakash at the meeting, the source added.

While many earlier expected that DD India would be ranked with the best of channels, its impact was hampered by a combination of factors, including a resource crunch and poor distribution.

“In the meeting, it was decided that DD India will come out in a new avatar, as an English news and current affairs channel catering to both international and domestic audiences,” the source said.

The Prasar Bharati board members also agreed that DD- News would now become a Hindi news channel.

It was felt that viewership was affected since English and Hindi news bulletins alternate on the channel, the source said.

However, the Sanskrit programming on DD News would continue, the source added.

After the meeting, the board members decided the channels would be repositioned soon, and asked DG, Doordarshan, Supriya Sahu, and other top officials to work in this regard, the source added. — PTI