Oil PSUS to the rescue of ailing Prasar Bharati
New Delhi   25-Sep-2010

With advertisers hard to come by, oil PSUs have been roped in to bailout public broadcaster Doordarshan- the official telecaster of the 12-day Commonwealth Games.

Oil and Natural Gas Corp (ONGC), IndianOil (IOC) and other state-owned oil firms will buy air-time worth Rs. 10 crore during telecast of the Games between October 3 and 14, sources in know of the development said.

Lack of advertisers interest has already forced Prasar Bharati, which administers Doordarshan, to halve the revenue target from ad slots during the Games to Rs. 100 crore.

Concerned at the poor showing, Oil Minister Murli Deora today led heads of ONGC, IOC and gas utility GAIL India to Delhi Chief Minister Sheila Dikshit in a show of solidarity. ONGC chairman and managing director, Mr. R S Sharma, IOC chairman Mr. B M Bansal and GAIL chairman and managing director Mr. B C Tripathi promised all support, sources said.