Prasar Bharati invites fresh tenders for DD Metro; last date for
submission 4 July
(Posted on 23 June 2001, 3:30 PM)
Confirming
reports that pubcaster Prasar Bharati had decided to offer fresh
bids for slots on Doordarshan's Metro Channel, advertisements
appeared today in national newspapers inviting tenders for bulk
airtime sales of 60-minute slots for a period of three years.
The
tenders are for prime time slots between 7:00pm and 11:00pm. The
slots are being auctioned without any floor price. The slots put
up for bidding are segregated into four different 60-minute time
bands - 7:00pm-8:00pm; 8:00pm-9:00pm; 9:00pm-10:00pm and 10:00pm-11:00pm.
The last day for collecting the proposal forms is 3 July.
Reports indicate that the decision to call for fresh tenders was
made two days after the last date for opening initial bids turned
up blank. There were no proposals from the private broadcaster
to bid for the 7:00-11:00pm prime time slots, as the floor price
(RS 975 million for the 7:00pm to 10:00pm slot) was seen as being
way too high.
In
fact there was only one bid - from the Delhi-based content provider
Moving Picture for a reported RS 5 million. This was for the late
night slot (11:00pm to 00:30 am) slot which had no floor price
attached.
The application for the new tender begins on 27 June, while the
last day for the submitting the fresh tender is set as 4 July.
According to the public notice issued by Prasar Bharati, the pre-qualification
bid will be opened on 4 July at 3:30 PM while the financial bid
will open on 5 July at 3:30 PM
Private
broadcasters have not been very forthcoming on how this new offer
would be received but there are issues other than cost involved
for them.
The
stipulation that only fresh content can be shown on the channel
has raised hackles. There is also the feeling that Prasar Bharati
will have to clearly spell out what it wants for the channel.
Giving "piecemeal offers" makes it difficult for private broadcasters
to map out long-term strategies, is the sentiment.
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