Replying to a question by Dr M V V S Murthi and others in India's Lower House of Parliament (Lok Sabha) today, minister of information & broadcasting Ravi Shankar Prasad said that many of the suggestions are focussed on the industry for action.

The minister said the report suggests that the film industry needs to transcend from being a simple unorganized, creative pursuit to an organized business that encourages and nurtures creativity and makes commercial sense. The strengthening of the cable and satellite dominance and increasing focus on subscription revenues together with the Conditional Access System (CAS) hold promise for the future growth of the Indian television industry.

To sustain healthy growth, the report recommends that the music industry in India, which is still at a nascent stage, needs to revamp the way it operates, with support from the key players and also evolve new revenue streams to hedge risks. The corporatisation in the film industry is expected to have a catalytic effect on the music industry, which would move increasingly towards a revenue sharing model, the minister said.

IMPROVEMENT OF DD PROGRAMMES
Doordarshan has taken a number of steps for improving the production of in-house programmes, the minister said in reply to a question by Bhartruhari Mahtab.

The steps included setting up of a Creative Advisory Committee with eminent media personalities for quality-improvement/production presentation/packaging of programmes, setting up of a Development Communication Division dedicated to the production/telecast of social communication messages in a professional manner.

Prasad said that campaigns by Development Communication Division have resulted in quality/quantity improvement of in-house production, using Doordarshan's creative talents and infrastructure.

The minister further said that nearly 43 per cent of the total transmission of programmes from various channels/State networks/production centres of Doordarshan is produced in-house. The minister informed that there are 59 studio centres of DD in the country besides OB vans, DGNGs/ENG units for production of programmes outside the studios.

DD is telecasting programmes, which contain a mixture of information, education and entertainment according to the mandate in the Prasar Bharati Act, 1990.