Prasar Bharati signs MoU with Digital Television Russia

New Delhi: Two of the world's leading broadcasters - Prasar Bharati, India's public service broadcaster, and Digital Television Russia (DTR), Russia's #1 Pay-TV programmer, today signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on cooperation that will set the stage for a new media era in both countries.

This strategic alliance will focus on high quality production, marketing and distribution of content related to art, culture, trade & science, research and technology etc. Joint production and exchange of TV programs and related services will give audiences in both countries an unprecedented access to a rich variety of thematic entertainment and factual content.

The MoU was signed by Jawhar Sircar, Prasar Bharati CEO and Mr. Dmitry Mednikov & Ms. Ayuna Badmaeva, representatives of Digital Television Russia, at The Royal Plaza, Delhi.

This partnership will cross-promote each nation's unique culture and traditions through cooperation in all areas in the mediaarena. From adaptation of iconic TV programs in each broadcaster's library, right up to the sharing of best practices, this coming together will not only benefit viewers in India and Russia, but will also inspire media executives in both countries to explore new and exciting ways of communicating their stories.

Mr Jawhar Sircar, CEO, Prasar Bharati, feels that this tie-up has tremendous potential for developing synergies between the two broadcasters. He says, "A new vibrant India looks forward to a robust partnership with Russian Television and Radio, as represented by VGTRK and DTR. India and Russia have a long tradition of mutual respect and have enjoyed decades of meaningful partnership in many industrial, scientific and cultural domains. Through this new MoU, we look forward to a reassertion of our historic bonds and seek to know each other's country, people and advancements even better. We intend to come even closer through better appreciation of our positions. It is indeed a very positive step and both sides look forward to it."

Mr. Dmitry Mednikov, Deputy CEO, Russia Television and Radio says that DTR is committed to developing local content in India for distribution by local players, and will re-invest their revenues into localcontent. He says: ‘We are here to launch and build meaningful business in partnership with India's programmers, content producers', distribution platforms. Our key principle is to invest into local content production, state-of-the-art technologies and to develop local talents'.

This September, Russia's leading journalists will be in India to produce TV programmes on Indian economy, technology and culture. This series will be aired in Russia's highly rated FTA channels, Russia 1 and Russia 24.

Ms. Ayuna Badmaeva, Deputy CEO, GM of International Networks, Digital Televison Russia further explains "This is really an exciting time for us in DTR. We provide smart and innovative programs that entertain, educate audiences across all demographics and on all platforms. Our philosophy in creating local brands and local formats ensures that these channels willresonate with the local viewers. Especially with a market like India where there are many regions and languages."

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About the companies:

Prasar Bharati is a statutory autonomous body established under the Prasar Bharati Act and came into existence on 23.11.1997. It is the Public Service Broadcaster of the country. The objectives of public service broadcasting are achieved in terms of Prasar Bharati Act through All India Radio and Doordarshan, which earlier were working as media units under the Ministry of I&B and since the above said date became constituents of Prasar Bharati.

All India Radio is India's National Broadcaster and also the premier Public Service Broadcaster, All India Radio (AIR) has been serving to inform, educate and entertain the masses since its inception. It is one of the largest broadcasting organisations in the world in terms of the number of languages of broadcast, the spectrum of socio-economic and cultural diversity it serves.

Doordarshan is an Indian public service broadcaster, a division of Prasar Bharati. It is one of the largestbroadcasting organisations in the world in terms of the studios and transmitters infrastructure.

Digital Television Russia (DTR) is Russia's no.1 programmer in basic and premium subscription television channels. Its nationally recognized brands are considered a ‘must have' for platforms and advertisers. The brand portfolio is structured under four key programming pillars, including Factual Entertainment (My Planet), Kids (Mult), Movies (Russian Roman) and Sports. Thematic brand extensions exist for each of our pillars, which include channels such as Live Planet, Russian Bestseller, Sport 2 and more. Close to 200 million cumulative consumers interact with DTR platforms every month.