Net-Work: Newspaper Registration to Be Digitised; DD, AIR Premium Content to Stream on OTT Platforms

In a boost to Digital India, the government is set to digitise the office of the Registrar of Newspapers of India by or before March 31 next year. In yet another initiative, public broadcaster Prasar Bharati is in the process to monetise its premium content by syndicating with OTT platforms.

According to highly placed sources, the process to digitise RNI that used to take four to five months will now only take a week. “The digitisation of RNI will save time of the applicants and space as well,” added the source.

The step to promote digitisation comes months after the Government of India launched a special campaign to weed out scrap and paper files to clear space.

According to a News18 report, in a drive in October last year, 21.9 lakh government files were removed and digitised, freeing up nearly 12 lakh square feet space. Moreover, Rs 62.5 crore was earned from scrap disposal.

Recently, 90,000 sqft in Mumbai was cleared up by disposing scrap, sources added.

PRASAR BHARATI SYNDICATION POLICY

While the Prasar Bharati had invited applications from private OTT platforms to stream Swaraj, sources say more such content will be streamed.

Sources stated that Prasar Bharati and the ministry as well is cleaning up spaces and earning revenue from the scrap.

The Syndication Policy of the Prasar Bharati stated: “Prasar Bharati, the Public Service Broadcaster in its mandate has played a key role in modern times for preservation and promotion of Indian culture, history and values. This has been the key factor in content creation since inception. Prasar Bharati has accumulated very rich and heritage content in its centralized repository at Archives as well as number of Stations, Kendras located in all corners of nation. News division of AIR & DD too have illustrious recording of many important mile stones of development of India.”

“The TV channels as well as the new channels on OTT are continuously looking for good saleable content. This has created a demand for programme content of Prasar Bharati in India and overseas for the purpose of broadcast as well as streaming on Digital Platforms. There is bright possibility for monetizing this content, which requires a proper and well-defined content syndication policy,” it stated.

The policy stated that it is to monetize archival and premium content of Doordarshan, All India Radio, new units of Prasar Bharati by syndicating rights to third parties through an open transparent mechanism.

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