MUMBAI: Public service broadcaster Doordarshan (DD) has turned operationally profitable by recording the highest revenue in the last five years. According to information revealed by DD director general Supriya Sahu, the pubcaster’s gross revenue rose to Rs1113.7 crore and net revenue to Rs 943.8 crore in the year 2018-19.

“A new record created by team DD. Highest revenue earned in the last five years. Doordarshan turns around. No longer a loss making organisation. Now operationally profitable,” Supriya Sahu commented on Twitter. Prasar Bharati owned DD had reported net revenue of Rs 884.4 crore in 2017-18. It earned Rs 318.06 crore from government advertisements and Rs 157.59 crore from corporate ads during that year.

At the beginning of this year, Prasar Bharati board gave the green signal to e-auction of DD FreeDish, the free-to-air DTH platform. After the recommencement, the auction of both MPEG-2 and MPEG-4 slots saw intense competition. While a total of 40 MPEG2 slots were successfully sold, Prasar Bharati CEO Shashi Shekhar Vempati said that the estimated revenue from the sold slots is Rs 395 crore. Later, 15 MPEG4 slots were sold and the highest bid during the e-auction was Rs 57.1 lakh, reportedly.

According to media reports, DD chalked out plans to improve broadcast capacity, infrastructure and increase the expanse of coverage to match the viewership and listenership of private television channels. It was also reported that DD had been sanctioned Rs 200 crore exclusively for refurbishing its content.

The pubcaster is also working towards plans to launch its own OTT (over-the-top) platform. DD is expected to get it ready by this year end. The OTT platform may show some rare archive content.