At first, we thought it’s a big fat October 1 prank, but hey ho it is not! Doordarshan’s entire inventory really might soon be available on Netflix, HotStar and other digital entertainment portals. This means watching Malgudi Days all over again, and perhaps falling in love with the super cute Shah Rukh Khan from Fauji on a whole new transmission device!
While DD has not expressly stated that it will, what is certain is that the analogue terrestrial television transmitters of Doordarshan will be phased out across the country. Already close on to 19 cities have digital transmitters of the network and it is likely that there will soon be city-specific content on these channels. In addition to news, weather reports and traffic updates that will be very localised, what is more exciting is the possibility of age-old favourites returning to the screen — be it on your laptop, mobile phone or smart TV. Oh, yes, this looks promising. Who needs Game Of Thrones when you have Malgudi Days. OK, maybe that is a bit extreme, but if predictions do come true, DD will be sharing content with streaming apps and websites such as Netflix, Amazon Prime and Hotstar. Hopefully, favourites such as Kashish, detective series Byomkesh Bakshi and even Mahabharat will be back on air!
We’re already humming the DD signature tune as we type. Are you hearing it in the background?
This article appeared in The Hindu first. Read the entire post here.