Independence Day goes hitech

Prasar Bharati wants to give the event greater visibility, both in India and abroad.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Independence Day speech will be live-streamed on the Google homepage. Google had done a similar thing during the Trump’s inaugural address in January last year.

When you go to Google search page and search for Independence Day, you will see live stream of the Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Red Fort.

“Live stream of the Independence Day event from Red Fort is a high viewership event. In order to give it greater visibility, both in India and abroad, we partnered with Google. Apart from YouTube, it will be available on Google homepage,” Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati told The Hindu. On an average 1.5 to 2 million watch the event each year.

This step is part of the ongoing effort from the State broadcaster to increase its digital footprint.

“Doordarshan is usually associated with nostalgia. So by increasing the digital presence we are making younger generation aware of Doordarshan who have never seen an era when there were only two or three channels,” Mr. Vempati added.

Bringing the content online need not necessarily mean more offline audience. Mr. Shekhar said: “That is not a phenomena we can measure. Worldwide we have seen that TV content drives the online traffic, I am not sure we can measure its impact other way. But surely it creates second wave of engagement with the audience.”

Significant changes

The DD has brought in few other significant changes in its Independence coverage. The coverage will open with song by music composer Shankar Mahadevan. And this year, the DD anchors will give introduction from the ramparts of Red Fort.

The All India Radio will also be transmitting translation of Prime Minister’s speech in regional languages in the evening.