Prasar Bharati invites bids for digital rights to its new show ‘Swaraj’

NEW DELHI: Public broadcaster Prasar Bharati has invited applications from private OTT platforms for exclusive global licensing rights to stream Swaraj, a show produced to commemorate 75 years of India’s independence that will also be broadcast on the Doordarshan network. 

The licence, lasting three years, will authorise the streaming platform to upload and store the programme and stream it for the public whether free of cost, or on payment of a subscription with each episode available 48 hours after it airs on the DD network, according to documents accessed by Mint.

The show, consisting of 75 episodes, has been produced by television production house Contiloe Pictures. It focuses on the long struggle of Indians against colonial onslaught, tales of the warriors who had made sacrifices for the country but whose stories of sacrifice could not reach the larger population.

Each episode of Swaraj is 44-50 minutes long. It has originally been produced in Hindi and will be dubbed in English and nine other languages including Marathi, Odia, Tamil, Telugu, Malayalam, Kannada, Bengali, Assamese and Gujarati.  

The reserve price for grant of license is ₹26.25 crore plus GST, the document said. The OTT platform to which the license is granted will not be allowed to sublet, delegate or reassign it to any third party except in case of merger of entities, for which prior approval of Prasar Bharati has to be sought.

Calls and messages to Prasar Bharati CEO Mayank Kumar Agarwal for comment on the new show and its auction remained unanswered at the time of publishing the story.

A promotion plan through print, digital, cinema, OOH (out-of-home) and television is being implemented to promote the programme, as per the document. The pre-bid meeting will be held on 28 July, and the last date for submitting applications is 4 August. The licence will be granted through e-auction.