Public service broadcaster Prasar Bharti plans to restructure its operations by setting up separate “action centres” for bringing in specialisation of operations.
On the cards is the hiving off of its DTH (direct-to-home) operations and archives divisions into separate units to improve marketing and achieve better profitability, according to Mr Jawhar Sircar, Chief Executive Officer, Prasar Bharti.
“The main problem of this organisation is: It is too big and hence cannot be dependent on merely 2-3 heads. We are therefore looking at segmenting the leadership into various action centres for specialisation of operations,” Mr Sircar told
DD Direct Plus — the free-to-air DTH service of Prasar Bharti — has about 11 million active viewers at present. “We have not marketed it properly. This needs to be hived off into a separate unit for achieving scale of operations,” he said.
Talking about its archives, Mr Sircar said, “We have one of the best collections of archives in the country and this needs to be cleaned, restored and organised properly.”
When asked about a possible timeline for the restructuring package to kick in, he said, “I have started visiting the various centres to meet the officers and directors in order to get an understanding of the operations. I am working with the stakeholders — the Prasar Bharti Board, colleagues and the Government – to come out with a feasible action plan. Once we are able to get our facts correct and economics worked out properly, then we can push one reform after another.”