Prasar Bharati income nearly halved in 3 yrs over govt ad cut, pro bono campaigns

State broadcaster Prasar Bharati’s net income has halved in the last three years, according to a parliamentary panel report, in which the Information and Broadcasting (I&B) Ministry cited reduced media spending and pro bono campaigns as reasons for the fall.

The Standing Committee on Information Technology report said the net IEBR generated by Prasar Bharati, including interest on term deposits, fell by 52 per cent — from Rs 1,581.53 crore in 2018-19 to Rs 759.8 crore in 2020-21 (data up to November 2020).

IEBR or Internal and Extra Budgetary Resources comprise funds raised by central public sector enterprises through profits, loans and equities.

Prasar Bharati has projected a target of Rs 1,480 crore as net IEBR for 2021-22.

In its report released Wednesday, the panel said the state broadcaster needs to make more efforts to monetise content available with the organisation in order to generate revenues.

This can include placing some popular Doordarshan (DD) and All India Radio (AIR) programmes on OTT platforms or YouTube, charging private channels for sharing feed of national events, reducing pro bono campaigns as well as monetising old songs, records, speeches and exclusive footage of Prasar Bharati, among others. The Print