Dialogue

Brand Speak

Prasar Bharati is launching its Urdu channel, DD Urdu, on August 15, and doing the honours will be Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh.

Prasar Bharati CEO, Navin Kumar, said, “DD Urdu will fulfill cultural, literary and social aspirations of Urdu speaking people in the country. In the true tradition of public service broadcasting, the programming of DD Urdu will reflect many dimensions of this rich Indian language in all its hues.”

Like all other Doordarshan channels, DD Urdu will also be positioned as a public service satellite channel in Urdu language. According to a Prasar Bharati source, the channel would be targeted at the pan-Indian audience.

The programming mix of DD Urdu will be skewed towards information, education and entertainment. There will be a mix of news and current affairs, besides serials, documentaries, talk shows, and film-based shows.

Initially the channel will have two and a half hours of fresh programming, which will be repeated twice – once in the morning slot and then in the afternoon slot. Fresh programming will be increased gradually and the channel will be made 24x7 in due course of time.

The main programmes on the new channel will include ‘Imroze’, a 30-minute news programme to be telecast daily, besides there will be shows like ‘Paigam-e-Mohabbat’ (a series of films on Urdu litterateurs by Muzaffar Ali), ‘Aks-e-Hind’ (a cultural programme produced by ANI TV), ‘Rishton Ke Silvatein’ (family drama) , ‘Jaanesaar’ (docu-drama on bravery and gallantry award winners) and ‘Parda-e-Siemien Se’ (film-based show) Apart from that B R Films has also offered its serial ‘Bahadur Shah Zafar’ for telecast on DD Urdu.

The channel is headed by veteran broadcaster F Shehareyar, who is on the rolls of Doordarshan. The day-to-day programming aspects of the channel will be looked after by Shekhar Chaudhary.

As part of the promotional activities, there will be initial print publicity to announce the launch of the channel by the Prime Minister in publications covering English, Hindi and Urdu languages. Cross channel promotions on various DD channels are already on as is cross media promotion on the All India Radio network. However, programme specific promotions and some outdoor publicity campaigns will be unveiled later.