James Packer, son of the Australian media baron Kerry Packer was in India this week. He spoke to The Economic Times about Channel Nine's (which is a JV between Packer's Consolidated Press Holdings and Himachal Futuristic Communication Ltd) plans for India.

Channel Nine's immediate activity in India is a joint venture with Doordarshan wherein it has bagged the contract for upgradation of production and technical standards for DD-Metro's morning and prime-time slots. It also has the production rights for DD for all international cricket matches played in India. In addition to the two hours of the prime time slot, Nine Broadcasting has bid for another two hours of prime time on the Metro channel. This is in keeping with Nine Broadcasting's strategy to create a platform for itself within Doordarshan.

Kerry Packer's Publishing and Broadcasting Ltd (PBL) is helping DD to increase Metro channels network from 75 transmitters to 125 transmitters by the year end. This move is expected to take DD-Metro's reach from 180m to around 350m when the project is completed.