Doordarshan calls for pitch for pan-India OOH account

The state-owned television broadcaster, Doordarshan, has called for an outdoor pitch for a period of two years. The tender is invited from agencies that have had the experience of handling the OOH campaign of a general entertainment channel during the past three financial years; and have handled at least three campaigns in more than 50 cities during the last financial year.

These outdoor sites will be used to showcase the various programmes on Doordarshan, and the creatives will be changed on a monthly basis. Also, with Commonwealth Games round the corner, these sites, which would be located at high-visibility areas, will be used to carry telecast information about the Games.

The Rs 1,000 crore-turnover-broadcaster is eyeing to garner Rs 300 crore in the 12 days of the Commonwealth Games telecast, which will begin from October 03.

Doordarshan is looking at a total of 100 sites in major cities, especially in metros, state capitals and important business towns. Apart from hoardings, the public broadcaster would also be looking at bus panels, especially in Mumbai.

This is the first time ever that the 50-year-old channel is planning to use outdoor media on such a large scale. "We have earlier used OOH, but as only an on-off medium; that too, outside DD's office and AIR's office. So, this is the first time we would be exploiting the medium," says Aruna Sharma, director general, Doordarshan.

Citing TAM ratings, she says, "In CAS homes in metros, Doordarshan's viewership has gone up by 4 points in the last one year for entertainment programmes. And as far as news is concerned, it is very high."

She adds that since the channel already has a good viewership in smaller cities; this medium is a way to reach out to the audience in larger cities, where more choice is available to viewers.

Interested agencies will need to submit their bid for the tender with the earnest money deposit of Rs 5 lakh. Additionally, the agencies must have office in more than 12 cities in the country, necessarily including Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Chennai, Bengaluru, and Hyderabad. The last date to submit the tender is July 22, up to 4 pm.

The channel also plans to rev up the existing channels and convert DD India into an English-language channel. Doordarshan is also hoping to attract advertising from global Indian brands on this channel.