NEW DELHI: Doordarshan will share 50 per cent of the revenue that it earns from the simulcast of the epic ?Ramayan? with Zee TV.

As in the case of Satyamev Jayate, a talk show that highlighted social issues, Doordarshan will do the marketing of Ramayan on its own, a source in Doordarshan told indiantelevision.com.

The simulcasting of these high pitched programmes is expected to provide bonus earnings to the public broadcaster, which has failed since 2007-08 to meet revenue targets by big margins. In 2011-12, Doordarshan?s earnings from commercial sales totalled Rs 7.94 billion against the target of Rs 12 billion.

The production of Ramayan serial by Meenakshi Sagar of Sagar Arts has been commissioned by Zee TV. Meenakshi is the granddaughter of Ramanand Sagar, the producer of the original Ramayan in the late 1980s telecast on Doordarshan.

Doordarshan also had a windfall this year in the form of MTV?s Coke Studio, which is being telecast both on MTV and Doodarshan. The eight-part Coke Studio started on MTV on 17 June and on Doordarshan on 7 July and are telecast on Saturdays at 7 pm on MTV and on Doordarshan on Saturdays at 8.30 pm.

Though Doordarshan has to share revenues of Satyamev Jayate and Ramayan with the private channels, Coke Studio was given to Doordarshan free of charge. ?DD was, in fact, paid for carrying the Coke brand. We also did not have to share any of the commercial revenues that we earned from the marketing of Coke Studio,? the Doordarshan source said.

DD will decide any future offers of simulcast on a case-to-case basis keeping the larger public interest in view, the source added.

In the case of Ramayan, Doordarshan felt that millions of young people needed to see the epic since the 1987 telecast of the Ramanand Sagar?s serial was seen by the older generation. The Ramayan serial on Imagine TV (then the channel was owned by NDTV and called NDTV Imagine) was not accessible to all since it was on satellite TV. Since Doordarshan is available to a majority of viewers terrestrially, it was felt that the simulcast will prove successful.

MUMBAI: Lifestyle channel NDTV Good Times has inked a one-year content deal with EMTV, Papua New Guinea?s premier television station owned by Fiji Television through a subsidiary called Media Niugini Limited (MNL).

EMTV will broadcast NDTV Good Times? two shows, ?Yogasutra? and ?Around The World In 85 Plates?, in Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands.

?Yogasutra? airs at 8 am on Sundays. ?Around The World in 85 Plates? will begin airing from 19th August at 11 am on EMTV.

NDTV Lifestyle CEO Smeeta Chakrabarti said, ?Our partnership with Media Niugini is another endeavour by the channel to reach out to audiences across the globe and we intend to offer the best in food, lifestyle and luxury across borders.?

EMTV is received in real time via satellite in 38 centres throughout Papua New Guinea. Its footprint reaches out to approximately 85 per cent of Papua New Guinea?s total population of approximately 7 million people.

NDTV Lifestyle VP development Atul Seth said, ?NDTV Good Times? tie-up with Media Niugini is a part of our venture to take the channel?s offerings to our global audiences. Content from NDTV Lifestyle is already played across several ethnic, third party platforms in Africa, Middle East & Europe and with Media Niugini?s tie-up we intend to expand our horizons further.?